THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


U-^ 


THE     ALIENS 


A     NO  V E  L. 


BY 

HENRY    F.     KEENAN, 

AUTHOR  OF  "TRAJAN,"'  ETC. 


NEW  YORK : 
D.   APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

I,   3,    AND   5   BOND   STREET. 

1 886. 


COPYRIGHT,  1886, 
BY  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved. 


A  .3? 


TO 

DAY  ID      GRAY 

AND   HIS   WIFE, 

MARTHA    GUTHRIE      GRAY, 
2Tf)is   V  olumc 

IS    AFFECTIONATELY   INSCRIBED. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — THE  HELOT'S  HAND 5 

II. — THE  CUP  THAT  CHEERS 24 

III. — THE  DREGS  OF  THE  FLACON 41 

IV. — NIOBE 53 

V. — A  VILLAGE  HAMPDEN 65 

VI. — "WARS  OF   ROSE  AND   SHAMROCK"                ...  84 

VII. — A  TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO 101 

VIII. — YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY 122 

IX. — AN  ELDRITCH  COMEDY 142 

X. — VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT           155 

XI. — A  TEXT  FROM  LEVITICUS           173 

XII. — LADY  MOLLY  FALLS  INTO  BROGUE    .        .        .        .  iSS 

XIII. — NEW  MASTERS  AT  MARBURY 201 

XIV. — THE  TELL-TALE  TREASURE 216 

XV. — FRIENDS  AT  THE  BLUE  JAY        .        .        .        .        .231 

XVI. — A  MYSTIC  ROMAUNT           245 

XVII. — DARCY  GAINS  A  VICTORY 258 

XVIII. — THE  HANDMAID  OF  BOAZ 268 

XIX. — COWARD  CONSCIENCE 281 

XX. — BETWEEN  TWO  LOVES 295 

XXI. — BRISEIS 310 

XXII. — THE  CURSE  OF  THE  ALIEN 322 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXIII. — A  WOMAN'S  REASON 331 

XXIV. — SWEET  BELLS  JANGLED  OUT  OF  TUNE  .        .        .  340 

XXV. — AN  ARMY  WITH  BANNERS 354 

XXVI. — THE  END  OF  THE  DREAM 370 

XXVI I.— A  NEW  LOVE 388 

XXVIII.— A  NEW  LIFE 404 

XXIX. — NORAH  REACHES  HOME 417 

XXX. — CONSEQUENCES 427 

XXXI. — SORROW'S  CROWN  OF  SORROW        ....  441 


THE     ALIENS. 


CHAPTER   I. 
THE  HELOT'S  HAND. 

IF  my  pen  were  a  ray  of  sunshine,  or  the  ink  flowing 
from  its  point  had  the  actinic  quality  of  the  fabulous  fluid 
wherewith  the  scribes  of  the  Ptolemies  created  to  the  eye 
the  thing  of  the  thought,  I  could  hardly  give  you  the  reali 
ty  of  the  sylvan  loveliness  that  captivated  the  eyes  that  fell 
upon  Warchester  in  the  early  days  of  this  century.  Eyes 
dim  with  tears  and  hearts  heavy  with  yearning  grew  bright 
and  light  in  the  re-assuring  serenity  of  the  scene,  as  the 
jaunty  canal-packet  Red  Jacket  shot  through  the  gleaming 
water-way  to  its  wharf  in  the  heart  of  the  town,  one  rare 
June  evening  long,  long  ago — so  long  ago  that  the  children 
of  that  day  are  patriarchs  now.  Measured,  however,  by 
years,  that  June  evening  was  not  so  far  away ;  measured 
by  change,  it  was  an  age  in  the  processes  of  science.  The 
cyclonic  forces  of  enterprise  and  invention  had  not  yet 
begun  their  mad  swirl  over  the  land.  Life  was  not  a  bat 
tle,  nor  wholly  a  burden,  to  the  least  favored.  Simple 
manners,  sincere  aims,  homely  joys,  modest  ambitions,  re- 


6  THE  ALIENS. 

ceived  as  a  heritage,  were  cherished  as  a  faith.  Few  were 
very  rich,  and  few  cared  to  be  ;  none  were  very  poor,  and 
none  feared  to  be.  Want  was  an  incentive,  not  a  burden ; 
wealth  was  a  slave,  not  a  master.  Handicraft  was  primi 
tive,  for  science  had  not  then  unrolled  the  ample  page 
that  makes  the  miracles  of  the  past  the  needs  of  to-day. 
Art  had  not  found  the  Aladdin  lamp,  that  reveals  the 
dynamic  forces  of  heat,  steam,  and  electricity. 

This  was  when  New  England  was  the  center  of  popu 
lation,  and  Boston  the  metropolis  of  taste  and  learning ; 
when  New  York  was  but  a  straggling  patch  upon  the  rocky 
ribs  of  Manhattan  Island  ;  when  a  day's  ride  southward 
from  the  city  of  Penn  brought  the  heir  of  all  the  ages  of 
civilization  into  a  land  of  legalized  helotry,  sordid  and 
soulless  as  the  feudalism  of  Rome  ;  when  a  voyage  to  the 
Mersey  was  an  affair  of  fateful  resolution,  that  the  prudent 
prepared  for  by  making  their  wills  and  setting  their  house 
in  order  ;  when  the  overturn  of  a  throne  on  the  Continent 
was  news  in  New  York  three  months  after  the  event ; 
when  the  telegraph  was  as  much  a  marvel  in  enlightened 
circles  as  the  telephone  to  the  nomads  of  the  Congo  to 
day;  when  the  journals  were  didactic  pamphlets,  and 
compared  to  the  diversified  pages  we  see  as  the  mind 
of  a  Boetian  to  that  of  a  cultivated  Athenian ;  when  the 
stage-coach  was  still  the  popular  express,  and  the  pillion 
the  favored  locomotion  of  the  genteel ;  when  no  one  read 
American  books,  because  few  were  written,  or,  if  written, 
unknown,  until  the  stamp  had  been  put  on  them  by  Eng 
lish  taste ;  when,  even  in  the  enlightened  circles  of  New 
York  and  Boston,  the  play  was  a  godless  diversion,  and 
the  player  an  outcast  from  the  most  liberal  groups,  and 
the  actress  a  sinner  whose  feet  took  hold  on  the  pit  of 
wickedness;  when  novel-reading  was  of  the  deadly  sins, 
and  dancing  damnation ;  when  at  many  a  chimney-stone 


THE  HELOT'S  HAND.  7 

might  be  heard  the  piping  treble  of  veterans  whose  eyes 
had  seen  the  British  ensign  dipped  before  Washington  at 
Yorktown ;  when  the  last  expression  of  political  and  social 
opprobrium  was  the  taunt  of  Toryism,  and  to  be  a  Feder 
alist  was  as  loathsome  as  in  1865  it  was  to  be  a  Demo 
crat  ;  when  the  elderly  among  affluent  men  clung  to  ruffles 
and  laces,  silver  buckles,  high  stocks,  garments  of  gay 
color  and  ancient  form ;  when  silk  gowns  were  the  mark 
of  gentility,  and  strong  liquors  part  of  the  family  feast. 

The  unlovely  in  man  was  less  obtrusive,  and  the  ca 
prices  that  impair  the  angelic  in  woman  less  in  evidence, 
in  the  diversions,  occupations,  and  even  frivolities  that  di 
vided  the  feminine  mind.  Gain  was  not  then  the  scheme 
of  chance  it  is  now  become,  and,  though  there  was  less 
affluence  in  the  groups  that  held  sway  among  social  forces, 
wealth  brought  the  ease  and  refinement  we  associate  with 
it  now. 

These  were  some  of  the  slowly  changing  conditions  at 
the  moment  we  enter  Warchester  that  tranquil  evening 
long  ago.  The  deciduous  glories,  that  now  make  War 
chester  the  "  enchanted  city "  to  the  stranger,  were  then 
merely  its  natural  vernal  plumage.  Then,  as  now,  the  site 
delighted  the  observing.  Nestling  in  a  wooded  valley, 
lulled  by  the  melodious  murmur  of  the  Caribee,  or  stimu 
lated  by  the  feverish  rush  of  its  waters  as  they  swept  over 
the  crags  and  cascades  lakeward,  Warchester  was  crowned 
with  beauty  and  endowed  with  the  resources  of  thrift. 

In  the  days  when  the  credulous  population,  that  grew 
rich  by  its  traffic,  held  the  Erie  Canal  to  be  a  stream, 
mingling  the  golden  marvels  of  Pactolus  and  the  sacred 
functions  of  the  Nile,  Warchester  was  the  most  considera 
ble  if  not  the  most  populous  inland  city  of  the  Middle 
States.  Spread  out  in  roomy  squares  and  broad  avenues, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Caribee,  the  town  from  its  infancy  had 


8  THE  ALIENS. 

been  remarked  as  an  ideal  situation.  Rivals  to  the  east 
ward  and  westward  disputed  the  pre-eminence  of  War- 
chester,  and,  as  the  census  was  then  in  its  infancy,  the  in 
dignant  dwellers  of  what  was  called  the  "  Sylvan  City  " 
were  forced  to  leave  the  dispute  to  Time  to  settle.  Wrang 
ling  and  disputing  on  other  points,  the  rival  towns  joined 
in  calling  down  blessings  on  the  head  of  his  Excellency, 
George  Clinton,  to  whom  that  Romanesque  masterpiece, 
the  canal,  was  fondly  believed  to  be  due  down  to  the  last 
sod  on  the  bank  at  Lake  Erie.  Joined  to  this  artless  faith 
was  a  deeply  rooted  sentiment  that  the  new  channel,  creep 
ing  over  the  fields  and  winding  sluggishly  through  the 
towns,  was  a  stream  of  more  definite  beauty  than  the  pur 
ple  waters  that  bathe  the  stones  of  St.  Marc's.  For  years 
the  stream  justified  the  simple  faith  of  its  adorers.  It 
scattered  plenty  through  a  smiling  land,  until  the  railway 
came,  like  a  brawny  youth  taking  the  burden  from  totter 
ing  age.  Luxurious  maples  grew  in  profusion  to  the  very 
edge  of  this  wondrous  water-way.  Indeed,  the  abundance 
of  foliage  in  the  business  quarters  gave  the  stranger  the 
impression  that  the  city  had  been  surveyed  in  the  recesses 
of  a  primeval  forest,  and  the  axe  had  been  forbidden  the 
vandal  hand  of  greed.  Warchester  spread  along  the  river- 
bank,  nestled  under  the  hills,  and  sent  suburban  offshoots 
far  into  the  rich  fields,  unconscious  of  the  dynamic  forces 
that  to-day  makes  it  an  industrial  Venice.  Even  in  those 
early  days  the  Warchester  builders  seemed  not  unconscious 
of  the  open  volume  of  beauty  Nature  laid  before  them, 
for  the  wooden  structures  were  reared  with  a  simple  grace 
and  less  harshness  of  form  than  befell  later  urban  archi 
tecture.  There  was  something  of  harmonious  design  and 
color  in  the  secluded  homes  nestling  in  the  gleaming  foli 
age  that  made  Warchester  an  Arcadia. 

If  the  canal  did  not  turn  out  the  Pactolus  of  the  peo- 


THE  HELOT'S  HAND.  g 

pie's  credulous  dream,  neither  did  it  steep  their  disap 
pointed  senses  in  the  languorous  repose  of  the  lotus-bearing 
Nile.  The  cumbrous  bottoms  that  discharged  a  diverse 
traffic  on  the  city  wharves  brought  the  seeds  of  the  fort 
unes  that  to  this  day  maintain  the  patrician  group  that 
rules  the  town.  Midmost  the  mountains  and  the  lakes  in 
valleys  of  fainting  richness  the  city  prospered  and  throve, 
until  it  grew  out  of  the  memory  of  its  founders.  Even  in 
those  early  days  it  was  acknowledged  to  be  the  fairest  in 
land  city  of  the  Union.  In  truth,  Nature  seemed  to 
wanton  in  the  beauties  offered  the  greed  of  man — where 
the  founder's  mill  was  perched  upon  the  edge  of  the  cat 
aract,  and  the  yellow  prize  of  the  valley  was  ground  to  the 
ceaseless  music  of  the  Caribee's  waters.  The  spot  selected 
for  beauty  and  repose  had  not  yet  become  a  mart,  teeming 
with  the  appliances  of  the  artisan  and  the  needs  of  the 
pioneer. 

Through  the  beauties  thus  faintly  outlined,  the  packet 
glided  gayly  cityward,  as  the  mellow  afternoon  sunlight 
fell  upon  the  tender  green  of  the  trees  and  the  limpid  rip 
ples  of  the  canal.  Six  fleet  horses  moved  the  vessel  at  a 
lively  jog  as  she  drew  nearer  the  wharf.  The  packet's 
arrival  was  evidently  something  of  an  event,  for  the  people 
in  the  streets  near  the  canal  gathered  in  groups  and  waved 
amicable  tokens  toward  the  company  on  the  foredeck. 
As  it  entered  the  famous  aqueduct  that  carries  the  water 
way  across  the  river,  there  were  loud  cheers  from  the  cen 
ter  of  the  town,  and  waving  flags  were  descried  near  the 
main  wharf. 

A  wheezy  cannon  could  be  heard  from  a  distance,  its 
ratchety  detonation  drowned  in  frantic  huzzas  for  "  Gov 
ernor  Darcy — Huzza  for  Dick  Darcy."  The  Governor 
was  plainly  the  large  man  in  the  group  that  filled  the  prow 
of  the  packet.  He  removed  his  hat  with  stately  delibera- 


I0  THE  ALIENS. 

tion,  and  stood  with  serene  countenance,  bowing  greetings 
to  the  right  and  left.  Turning  to  a  lad  standing  at  his 
side,  the  Governor  said,  graciously  : 

"  Mark,  some  of  this  welcome  is  for  you !  Warches- 
ter  welcomes  a  Warchester;  you  must  make  your  bow 
manfully,  for  honors  come  naturally  to  a  Warches 
ter!" 

The  youth,  watching  the  faces  on  shore  with  glistening 
eye,  blushed  as  the  great  man  called  the  attention  of  the 
others  to  him,  and  shrunk  into  the  throng  behind  the 
Governor.  The  packet  meanwhile  had  slacked  speed,  and 
was  careening  gayly  toward  the  well-worn  planks  of  the 
Rialto  wharf — as  the  dock  at  the  end  of  the  dromedary 
bridge  was  suggestively  called  in  those  days.  Facing  the 
boat  and  the  bridge,  the  city  displayed  itself  in  a  pretty 
square,  flanked  by  the  bank,  the  post-office,  the  Blue 
Eagle  tavern,  and  St.  Mark's  Church.  The  quaint  ensem 
ble  of  pointed  gable,  Gothic  spire,  and  truncated  arches  on 
the  bridge,  gave  the  scene  a  vivacity  of  the  picturesque 
which  redeemed  it  from  the  disheartening  rawness  of 
primitive  towns.  Meanwhile  there  were  movement  and 
joyous  expectation  on  the  shore,  and  answering  demon 
strations  from  the  crowded  deck. 

Warchester  was  so  young  in  corporate  dignity  that  the 
civic  machinery  creaked  in  its  newness.  Colonel  War 
chester,  the  founder's  eldest  son,  was  serving  his  first  term 
as  Mayor,  and  the  City  Clerk,  Captain  Wellsly,  who  had 
been  an  alderman  in  New  York,  was  depended  on  to 
coach  the  raw  hierarchy  in  municipal  forms  and  the  eti 
quette  proper  to  such  occasions  as  the  present.  It  was 
vaguely  felt  that  some  extraordinary  ceremonial  should  be 
prescribed  for  the  reception  of  the  Governor,  but  the 
Captain  had  given  up  the  attempt  to  school  the  raw 
aldermen.  So  after  all  the  ceremonies  were  left  to  hazard, 


THE  HELOT'S  HAND.  II 

Colonel  Warchester  remarking  dryly  as  the  puzzled  com 
mittee  stood  beside  him  : 

"  Dick  Darcy  wouldn't  know  what  to  make  of  fuss  and 
feathers  in  his  own  home — where,  man  and  boy,  he  never 
saw  anything  more  of  show  than  the  Fourth  of  July  fire 
works." 

The  reception  was  therefore  more  a  fete  of  friends  and 
neighbors  than  the  formal  event  the  indignant  Captain  had 
set  his  heart  upon.  But  there  were  color  and  life  notwith 
standing.  The  solemn  chariot  of  the  Warchesters  stood 
in  the  center  of  the  throng,  and  in  it  sat  the  "Mayor 
ess,"  Mistress  Warchester,  very  grand  and  overpowering 
in  satins  and  laces.  Grouped  about  this  stately  center 
were  the  "  ladies  "  of  the  councilors  and  the  chief  dames 
of  the  city's  greatest.  But  far  more  conspicuous  than  the 
elders  were  the  small  son  and  daughter  of  the  house  of 
Warchester,  the  Governor's  namesake,  Master  Darcy,  and 
his  sister  Mildred.  The  pranks  of  the  boy  and  the  solici 
tude  of  the  girl  fascinated  the  attention  of  the  waiting 
throngs,  while  the  mother  was  as  obviously  distracted  by 
the  lad's  recklessness  and  impulsive  forays  from  the  nurse 
maid's  keeping.  Twice  he  had  barely  missed  tumbling 
into  the  water,  and,  just  as  the  signals  of  the  Red  Jacket 
were  seen,  he  was  ignominiously  dismissed  to  the  rear  of 
the  carriage  in  the  stout  arms  of  the  harassed  Abigail. 

Expectation  had  reached  its  most  vivacious  pitch. 
The  brand-new  home  guard,  drawn  up  in  the  Athens  road, 
that  runs  east  and  west  through  the  town,  came  to  a  clat 
tering  "present."  The  Governor  is  putting  the  last  step 
on  the  gang-plank.  The  band  gives  all  its  lungs,  and  not 
much  art,  to  "  Hail  to  the  Chief  !  "  The  Mayor  steps  to 
the  triumphal  dais  while  the  preparatory  piping  is  going 
on,  and  everybody  waits  distractedly  to  see  how  the  affair 
will  end  !  Certainly  Darcy  can't  kiss  all  his  kinsfolk  nor 


12  THE  ALIENS. 

shake  hands  with  his  constituents  before  sundown  ?  If  he 
can't,  the  reception  is  a  sort  of  deception,  for  what  did 
Warchester  make  a  governor  for  if  he  were  not  to  be  filial, 
and  homely,  and  affable  when  such  occasions  come  about  ? 
But  Darcy,  ignorant  of  the  expectations  of  his  compatriots, 
moves  forward  smiling — "  Jacking  "  one,  "  Toming  "  an 
other,  and  "  Dicking "  familiarly,  where  the  Toms  and 
Jacks  came  to  an  end — with  jovial  delight  until  he  reaches 
the  Mayor,  to  whom  he  bows  with  grave  dignity  and  shakes 
an  official  rather  than  friendly  hand.  Then  a  great  shout 
breaks  out  and  dies  away  in  shamefaced  and  untimely  in 
coherence,  the  abashed  enthusiasts  not  quite  sure  whether 
such  a  salutation  is  the  proper  observance ;  whether  the 
acclaim  which  did  honor  to  Darcy  the  candidate  were 
quite  in  keeping  for  Darcy  the  Governor  !  But  the  affable 
statesman  soon  re-assures  all  who  can  reach  him,  and  the 
shouts  break  out  hilariously  again  as  the  gleam  of  satisfac 
tion  is  seen  in  the  great  man's  eye.  Having  saluted  ur 
banely  all  the  personages  of  the  civic  throng,  the  Governor 
makes  his  way  to  where  Madam  Warchester  sits  in  state. 
He  bows  low  over  the  white  jeweled  hand  she  extends, 
kissing  it  in  the  old-time  fashion;  whereat  there  is  a 
pleased  simper  among  her  train. 

"  I  have  brought  your  young  kinsman  safely  back  to 
you,  Mistress  Warchester.  You'll  hardly  know  him  for  the 
sly  rogue  of  four  years  ago.  He  has  turned  into  a  monk 
for  studiousness,  and  I  make  no  doubt  he  will  do  the  fam 
ily  great  honor !  " 

Marcus  had  pushed  forward,  but,  blushing  furiously  as 
this  encomium  drew  the  eyes  of  the  group  upon  him,  he 
shrunk  behind  the  carriage,  refusing  the  embrace  of  his 
aunt  before  so  many  eyes. 

"And  how  our  young  city  has  grown  !  "  continued  the 
statesman,  addressing  the  group,  in  a  joyous,  paternal  sort 


THE  HELOT'S  HAND.  13 

of  rapture.  "  I  protest  I  shouldn't  have  known  it  if  I  had 
waked  suddenly  inside  the  limits!  If  we  continue  to  spread 
out  in  this  fashion  we  shall  be  the  principal  city  of  Impe- 
ria  by  the  time  Warchester's  turn  comes  for  the  next  gov 
ernor  ! " 

"  Why  not  ?  "  interposed  the  Mayor,  confidently.  "  Is 
there  any  other  city  has  such  advantages  ?  We  have  the 
canal,  the  lake,  and  the  river,  to  fetch  and  carry,  to 
turn  our  wheels  and  grind  our  wheat.  The  mines  of  Peru 
hold  no  more  gold  than  the  surface  of  the  Caribee  valley ; 
we  have  the  most  intelligent  population  in  the  State,  the 
best  families  in  the  country  !  " 

"  And  a  Warchester  for  mayor,"  slyly  interjected  the 
Governor,  as  the  other  halted  in  his  complacent  enumera 
tion  of  the  infant  city's  aptitudes. 

"  And — and — with  such  blessings  and  advantages," 
continued  the  Colonel,  a  reproving  seriousness  in  his  tone, 
"  Warchester  should  be  the  sustenance  of  a  vast  popula 
tion  before  this  generation  passes  away." 

The  salutations  were  ended,  the  militia  had  begun  its 
march,  and  the  company  was  ready  to  form  behind  the 
Governor,  when  a  sudden  movement  toward  the  edge  of 
the  water,  a  stifled  shriek  and  scurry  arrested  the  Mayor 
and  his  guest.  "  Mrs.  Warchester,  looking  down,  seemed 
to  mark  the  absence  of  her  son.  He  was  nowhere  to  be 
seen.  A  cry  from  the  edge  of  the  crowd  enlightened 
them  as  the  derelict  nurse  darted  wildly  among  the  sol 
diers  in  search  of  the  strayed  urchin.  The  girl  had  lost 
sight  of  the  child  only  an  instant.  Agitated  by  the  amo 
rous  glance  of  a  gay  trooper  in  uniform,  she  had  forgotten 
that  eternal  vigilance  is  the  watchword  of  the  nursery  as 
well  as  the  State.  At  all  events,  when  the  questioning, 
awful  eye  of  the  mother  found  her,  she  cowered  in  terror. 

"  Where  is  Darcy,  Margery  ?     Surely  you  have  not  let 


I4  THE  ALIENS. 

him  go  among  the  crowd  again  ?  "  Margery  fled  wildly  in 
pursuit.  The  child,  quite  naturally,  made  for  the  object 
of  his  curiosity,  the  packet.  Here,  partly  concealed  by  a 
large  post,  he  watched  with  wonder  and  delight  the  amaz 
ing  sights  of  the  deck  and  the  gangway,  as  the  great  hulk 
gave  up  its  treasures.  Marcus  Dunn,  the  lad  whom  the 
Governor  had  signalized  by  his  attention,  fell  out  of  the 
official  center  and  stood  in  the  shadow  of  the  warehouse, 
watching  the  debarkation  intently.  He  seemed  to  expect 
a  familiar  face,  and  his  eyes  darted  quickly  from  the 
strange  squads  that  came  out,  specter-like,  from  the  low 
steerage  doorway.  The  group  was  in  suggestive  contrast 
to  the  Governor's  following  preceding  them.  They  were 
a  frightened  file  of  emigrants,  confused  and  disheartened 
by  the  movement  of  the  packet  and  the  abuse  of  the 
officers,  who  hurried  them  out  without  much  regard  for 
age  or  sex.  They  streamed  out  over  the  narrow  gang 
plank,  laden  with  the  motley  and  nondescript  belong 
ings  that  the  humble  transport  laboriously  when  seeking 
new  homes.  They  were  clad  unseasonably  in  fabrics  of 
curious  shape  and  texture.  Whether  it  was  the  humorous 
contrast  in  the  reception,  or  curiosity  to  witness  their  dis 
persal  to  new  destinies,  Marcus  remained  at  his  post 
until  the  last  laggard  straggled  out.  The  little  ones,  who 
seemed  to  outmember  the  company  greatly,  were  soiled 
but  ruddy,  full  of  unbridled  curiosity  and  infantile  delight, 
with  tongue  and  eye  eloquent  of  the  nai've  surprise  that 
befits  the  small  but  observant  traveler  on  an  occasion  so 
momentous  as  the  selection  of  a  country  over  which  to 
rule  in  the  fullness  of  time.  The  train  did  not  move  fast 
enough  to  suit  the  energetic  supercargo,  and  he  remon 
strated  urbanely : 

"  Here,  you  allfired   Micks,  hustle  yourselves  kinder 
spry,  and  give  us  a  chance  for  the  freight  some  time  to- 


THE  HELOT'S  HAND.  15 

night.  Hurry  up  there  ;  you're  slower  than  the  wrath  of 
the  Lord,  and  not  half  as  sure !  Come  there,  Paddy,  you 
ain't  on  your  ould  sod,  where  the  shamrocks  grew  be 
tween  your  feet." 

The  company  to  whom  these  benign  remarks  were  ad 
dressed  straggled  forward,  all  ages  and  sizes,  in  a  fright 
ened  scramble.  The  first  to  reach  the  shore  was  a  man 
in  the  prime  of  young  manhood,  symmetrical  of  figure, 
brawny  limbed,  with  the  outlines  and  port  of  a  drum- 
major.  By  the  hand  he  led  two  little  boys,  the  eldest,  per 
haps  seven,  red-haired,  blue-eyed,  with  tawny  patches  of 
freckles,  unbridled  curiosity  and  mischief  equally  mixed 
in  the  expression  of  his  face.  The  other  boy,  younger  by 
two  years  or  more,  came  haltingly,  turning  his  eyes  wist 
fully  backward  to  see  that  his  mother  followed,  was  dis 
tinctly  unlike  his  elder.  His  eyes  were  dark  gray,  his 
thick  shock  of  hair  a  sunny  brown,  his  complexion  like 
the  first  turn  of  the  maple-leaf  in  fall.  Behind  the  boys 
came  a  woman,  perhaps  twenty-five,  with  a  figure  whose 
beauty  the  shapeless  gown  and  ill-fitting  covering  could 
not  wholly  disguise  as  she  reached  and  rested  dejectedly 
on  the  large  boxes  piled  on  the  wharf.  She  was  the  real 
ization  of  the  mourning,  martyr-like  Madonna,  Murillo 
painted  in  his  Sevillian  reveries.  As  the  crowd  grew 
more  clamorous,  her  large  violet  eyes  opened  wider  and 
filled  with  blinding  tears;  she  looked  back  in  terror 
toward  the  packet,  clutched  the  hand  of  her  husband,  and 
pointed  to  the  train  still  coming  over  the  plank.  As  she 
raises  her  arm  the  head  of  the  younger  boy  is  pillowed 
under  her  shawl,  and  the  attitude  emphasizes  the  resem 
blance  to  the  Murillo  Virgin. 

By  careful  management  the  straggling  urchins  were 
gathered  within  reach  of  the  father,  sitting  on  the  boxes, 
watching  curiously  the  people  of  the  New  World,  where 


1 6  THE  ALIENS. 

he  had  come  to  seek  his  fortune.  Evidently  re-assured 
as  to  his  right  to  be  there,  he  deliberately  opened  a 
capacious  pouch,  and,  filling  a  short  clay  pipe,  held  a 
lighted  match  until  the  flame  reached  his  finger,  mean 
while  surveying  his  distracted  brood. 

"  Mind  yer  oi  there,  Nan,  ye  divil's  own  get !  "  he  broke 
out  as  a  hoydenish  merry  romp  of  a  girl  came  down  the 
plank  with  a  babe  on  her  arm,  stopping  to  joke  with  one 
of  the  deck-hands.  But  she  landed  her  charge  safely  in 
the  mother's  arms,  and  the  pipe  sent  up  little  puffs  that 
seemed  to  signalize  peace  in  the  bosom  of  the  smoker. 

"  O  Hugh,  dear !  th'  byes  '11  fall  in  th'  wather — sure  I 
know  they  will  if  ye  don't  spake  a  word  to  them,"  and  the 
mother  arose  in  alarm  as  the  lads  skirted  the  edge  of  the 
bank.  A  nod  from  the  father  brought  them  under  the 
mother's  wing,  who,  turning  in  frightened  solicitude,  asked 
breathlessly : 

"  Nancy,  girl,  are  the  childer  all  here  ?  I  don't  see 
Norah." 

Nancy  took  her  laughing  eye  from  the  stalwart  boat 
man,  and,  counting  the  little  ones  hurriedly,  nodded. 
Meanwhile  another  group  debarked,  ranging  themselves 
near  the  waiting  mother  and  her  children.  The  father  of 
these  distinctly  contrasted  Aliens,  a  stumpy,  blue-eyed, 
tow-haired  Saxon,  led  his  little  ones,  but,  unlike  the  Celt, 
made  no  attempt  to  lighten  the  mother's  burden.  Even 
the  boatmen  stopped  to  comment  on  the  strange  specta 
cle.  The  mother  came  down  the  plank  with  an  infant  at 
her  breast  and  another  strapped  on  her  back,  which  was 
painfully  bent,  as  she  descended  the  steep  incline  to  the 
shore.  By  the  hand  she  led  a  small  urchin,  staring  with 
large  blue  eyes  and  wide-open  mouth  at  the  strange  new 
sights  opened  to  his  infantile  wonder. 

The  placid  patriarch  of  this  group,  unconscious  of  the 


THE  HELOT'S  HAND.  17 

unkindly  curiosity  excited  by  his  shirking  of  the  family 
burden,  seated  himself  tranquilly  just  beyond  his  compan 
ion  Aliens,  and,  as  if  reluctant  to  intermit  the  joys  of  his 
pouch,  adjusted  a  long  porcelain  pipe  upon  the  bundle 
under  his  arm  and  fell  to  whiffing  the  white  smoke  with  a 
serene  content  that  drew  smiles  from  the  natives,  as  yet 
not  familiar  with  the  German  in  his  primitive  condition. 
The  man  himself,  apparently  indifferent  to  the  labors  at 
tending  his  kith,  stared  about  in  meek  wonder,  untinged 
by  anything  like  concern. 

When  the  exodus  of  the  human  freight  came  to  an  end, 
the  emigrant  belongings,  heaped  upon  the  deck,  were 
pitched  out  in  vicious  volleys  by  the  robust  crew.  Then 
the  packet  was  cast  off  and  moved  a  length  forward  to  the 
overhanging  warehouse  to  unload  her  wares. 

At  the  same  moment  the  first  mother,  missing  her 
smallest  boy,  turned  in  terror  to  the  stout  girl  near  her, 
crying,  "  Nancy,  dear,  mind  the  childer  ;  don't  ye  go  near 
the  wather.  Holy  saints  !  Denny's  drowned." 

Now,  the  small  boy  called  Denny,  released  from  the 
paternal  control,  had  taken  the  hand  of  the  little  Norah 
and  toddled  in  ungovernable  curiosity  to  the  water's  edge, 
where  his  eye  had  caught  the  gay  figure  of  the  Mayor's  son 
braced  against  the  capstan  or  rope-post.  The  two  chil 
dren,  about  the  same  age,  eyed  each  other  shyly — Denny 
with  timid  curiosity,  Darcy  with  wonder  not  unmingled 
with  a  placable  arrogance :  if  a  boy  of  five  might  be  capa 
ble  of  that  instinctive  assertion  of  condition.  The  pretty 
costume,  the  well-combed  hair  of  the  other,  excited  such 
wonder  in  Denny  that  he  boldly  stretched  out  his  hand  to 
touch  the  glittering  buckle  of  the  belt  that  fastened  the 
child's  tunic.  Norah,  shrinking  behind,  also  fascinated  by 
the  lad's  finery,  stared  wonderingly  as  Denny  put  his 
hand  upon  the  shining  clasp.  Discomfited  at  this,  Darcy 


1.8  THE  ALIENS. 

turned  and  fled,  looking  inquiringly  over  his  shoulder  as 
he  ran.  It  was  but  a  step  to  the  water's  edge,  and  the 
loosened  rope  tripped  his  little  feet ;  before  a  hand  could 
be  reached  out  to  stay  him,  he  rolled  down  the  shelving 
bank  and  into  the  water,  fairly  under  the  bulging  side  of 
the  boat.  Denny,  probably  thinking  it  a  game,  followed, 
tripped,  and  he,  too,  rolled  down  the  bank,  and  both  were 
in  an  instant  lost  under  the  clear  water.  The  screams  of 
the  emigrant  mother  startled  the  great  folks  just  ready  to 
drive  off. 

"Where  is  Darcy?  "  Colonel  Warchester  asked  in  sud 
den  alarm.  The  loud  cries  near  the  water  and  the  rush 
of  those  nearest  the  place  warned  him.  But  before  he 
could  get  to  the  spot  the  athletic  form  of  Hugh  clove  the 
crowd,  as,  with  ready  presence  of  mind,  he  tilted  the  gang 
plank  on  edge,  and  slid  it  between  the  boat  and  the  bank, 
in  the  form  of  a  wedge,  to  keep  the  packet  from  grinding 
the  little  bodies  on  the  stones  of  the  shore.  Dropping 
down  along  the  smooth  wall,  Hugh  dived  under  the  chil 
dren  and  soon  re-appeared  with  one  on  each  arm.  As  he 
reached  the  top  of  the  bank,  both  mothers  stood  together, 
by  the  curious  irony  of  nature,  equal  before  the  altar  of 
calamity,  terror,  and  the  devotion  of  motherhood.  The 
proud  lady  never  looked  at  the  brawny  rescuer  ;  unmind 
ful  of  the  dripping  garments,  she  snatched  the  terrified 
child  to  her  breast,  turning  her  back  on  the  abashed  in 
strument  of  her  darling's  safety.  He  relinquished  the 
little  fellow  with  a  word  of  good-humored  but  apologetic 
earnestness : 

"  It  was  this  bould  little  brat  that  did  it,  ma'am  ;  yer 
little  boy  was  as  paisable  as  a  kitten  with  a  bowl  of  new 
milk  ! " 

This  was  an  implied  censure  of  Denny  that  his  mother 
resented  in  her  way.  She  seized  the  dripping  culprit, 


THE  HELOT'S  HAND. 


I9 


soothed  him  on  her  breast,  and,  as  she  turned  away,  shot 
an  arrow  of  such  pathetic  reproach  as  Marcus  thought 
must  have  followed  the  eyes  of  the  saint  when  Caiphas 
gave  the  innocent  to  the  malice  of  men.  The  lad  felt  an 
impulse  to  go  to  the  despised  mother  and  make  up  for  his 
kinswoman's  ungraciousness  and  ingratitude.  His  senti 
ment  was  so  strong  that  he  presently  felt  a  sort  of  com 
punction  when  his  uncle  bade  him  enter  the  carriage  and 
come  to  the  feast. 

The  incident  hastened  the  departure  of  the  throng. 
The  dripping  child  was  packed  off  with  the  guilty  nurse 
maid.  The  band  began  a  joyous  march,  and,  between 
open  lines  of  militia  and  citizens,  the  cortege  hurried  off 
to  the  imposing  mansion  of  the  Warchesters.  It  was  a  fine 
pile  of  brick,  covered  by  white  plaster.  It  was  adorned 
in  front  by  stately  Doric  columns  of  white,  supporting  a 
single-pointed  gable  on  a  wide  projecting  architrave.  The 
house  stood  far  back  from  the  street  in  a  park  of  noble 
maples,  and  from  the  porch  great  vistas  could  be  seen, 
bounded  by  the  distant  Holly  Hills,  that  made  the  city  a 
vernal  amphitheatre.  A  great  company  had  been  invited 
to  banquet  in  honor  of  the  Governor,  and  afterward  half 
the  town  were  to  join  in  a  reception.  The  pleasant 
grounds  presently  echoed  to  the  strains  of  the  military 
band,  and,  as  darkness  fell,  the  company  sat  down  to  the 
feast. 

Darcy's  adventure  was  the  topic  of  the  supper-table, 
for  the  late  dinner  was  not  in  those  days  the  sign  of  pro 
fessional  condition  or  social  standing. 

"Who  was  the  man  that  leaped  in  after  the  children  ?  " 
asked  the  Governor,  who  had  not  seen  the  episode. 

The  question  seemed  to  embarrass  the  company.  No 
one,  it  appeared,  had  ever  thought  of  the  agent  of  the 
rescue.  Madame  Warchester,  to  whom  the  company  cast 


20  THE  ALIENS. 

a  questioning  glance,  looked  appealingly  at  her  husband, 
the  Mayor,  as  if  invoking  his  official  address  to  shield  her 
from  confessing  the  plebeian  means  that  had  dared  save 
her  son  from  drowning.  The  Colonel,  clearing  his  throat, 
and,  with  a  glance,  that  said  things  were  not  really  so  bad 
as  they  might  be,  made  answer  : 

"  I  am  quite  sure  that  it  is  the  brother  that  James 
Boyne  has  been  expecting  the  last  fortnight.  There  was 
just  enough  family  resemblance  to  make  me  sure  of  that. 
He  was  a  fine  stalwart  fellow,  and  his  arms  came  in  good 
play." 

"  It  was  a  manly  act,  and  the  man  deserves  recogni 
tion.  I  like  to  see  these  brawny  recruits  filling  up  our 
ranks.  With  a  few  thousand  like  this  Boyne,  in  this  fer 
tile  land  of  promise,  we  shall  be  the  greatest  nation  and 
happiest  people  in  Christendom/'  and  the  Governor  beamed 
cordially  upon  the  company. 

"  It  didn't  occur  to  me  to  remark  this  person,"  Mrs. 
Warchester  said,  frigidly,  meeting  the  Governor's  eye 
before  turning  to  give  an  order  in  a  whisper  to  a  do 
mestic. 

"  Well,  Governor,"  remarked  a  young  lawyer,  anxious 
to  display  his  parts  in  such  fine  company,  "if  that's  all  the 
country  needs  to  make  it  prosperous  we  won't  have  long 
to  wait ;  there  were  fifteen  children,  by  actual  count,  be 
tween  two  mothers  on  the  wharf  to-day." 

"  That  was  the  reason  I  was  surprised  at  this  Boyne 
person  taking  the  trouble  to  fish  out  his  infant,"  retorted 
a  rival  lawyer,  bent  on  keeping  Mrs.  Warchester  on  his 
side  in  the  social  combat.  The  witticism  fell  rather  heav 
ily  on  the  table,  but  Mrs.  Warchester  came  to  her  protigtt's 
rescue. 

"  O  Mr.  Hapgood,  how  can  you  be  so  wicked  !  No 
doubt  the  babies  of  these  Irish  persons  are  as  dear  to 


THE  HELOT'S  HAND.  21 

them,  though  they  do  seem  to  come  in  litters,  as  our 
own." 

This  was  said  with  such  an  air  of  benignant  raillery, 
and  just  the  shade  of  equivocation,  which  left  the  first 
satirist  in  doubt  whether  his  sally  had  been  understood  in 
all  its  exquisite  humor,  and  he  continued  : 

"  I  never  realized  the  humorous  inspiration  of  Swift's 
plan  for  the  utilization  of  babies  until  I  remarked  the  rab 
bit-like  fecundity  of  the  Irish  mother ! "  This  was  suc 
cessful  in  eliciting  a  burst  of  merriment,  which  incited 
young  Gideon  Meadows,  an  attorney  in  the  employ  of  the 
city  to  contest  the  claims  of  the  Poultney  heirs  for  a  large 
tract  of  water-front,  to  say  : 

"  No  wonder  Ireland  has  a  famine  every  few  years 
when  the  baby  crop  beats  the  potato  crop  !  " 

The  Governor,  who  had  listened  with  evident  surprise 
to  this  conversation,  drew  a  long  breath,  and,  raising  his 
glass  to  the  hostess,  said,  genially  : 

"  We'll  drink  to  the  boy's  immersion,  though  we  don't 
believe  in  the  Baptists." 

This  excited  a  ripple  of  laughter,  as  everybody  under 
stood  the  allusion  to  a  Baptist  seminary  and  college  just 
incorporated  in  the  city. 

"But,  my  friends,"  he  continued,  "I'm  sorry  to  see 
that  you  let  prejudice  stand  before  your  senses  in  dealing 
with  the  question  of  peopling  this  country.  You  make  no 
objection  to  the  negro  coming  in  ?  Why  draw  the  line  at 
the  Irish  ?  If  our  ancestors  had  been  of  your  mind,  I 
should  have  been  toiling  in  the  bogs  of  Kerry  to-day,  for 
my  grandfather,  as  you  must  all  know,  was  Irish.  That, 
however,  is  neither  here  nor  there.  A  man  that  did  the 
thing  this  Boyne  did  to-day  deserves  some  notice.  If  he 
is,  as  you  say,  James  Boyne's  brother,  I  will  make  it  a 
duty  to  go  to  the  mill  to-morrow  and  stimulate  the  man's 


22  THE  ALIENS. 

pride  by  telling  him  whose  son  he  rescued,  and  that  we 
are  all  grateful — eh — Mr.  Mayor  ?  " 

As  a  large  mill-operator  and  leading  politician,  the 
Governor  might  be  expected  to  hold  views  of  this  sort,  but 
the  company  was  careful  to  give  no  indorsement  of  them, 
especially  as  Mrs.  Warchester  compressed  her  lips  in  a 
manner  that  every  guest  at  the  table  knew  the  significance 
of. 

"  The  truth  is,"  the  Mayor  said,  reflectively,  "  I  wish 
we  could  check  the  inflow  of  foreigners.  I  think  we  could 
get  on  very  well  without  them.  In  our  business  the  mar 
ket  is  glutted.  There  are  more  mill-wrights  in  Warchester 
than  there  are  mills  this  side  of  the  Ohio.  We  have  the 
best  craftsmen  of  Belfast  and  Manchester,  and  with  these 
we  can  educate  enough  apprentices  to  carry  on  all  the 
mechanical  trades  of  the  country.  I  lament  the  changes 
wrought  in  our  morals  by  this  influx  of  foreign  peoples, 
with  their  curious  habits,  their  lax  religions,  their  noisy 
merry-making,  their  Sabbathless  weeks.  Why,  the  result 
is  as  manifest  already  in  Warchester  as  the  water  of  the 
well  when  the  spring  freshets  come.  I  remember  when 
there  wasn't  a  liquor-shop  inside  the  corporation ;  when 
cider  was  the  strongest  beverage  known  to  men  of  all 
degrees.  Now  there  are  fifty  '  saloons '  or  tap-rooms 
where  alcohol  is  sold.  I  remember  when  man  nor  beast 
was  seen  on  the  street  on  Sunday,  save  at  the  church- 
door.  Now  the  streets  are  a  fair  on  Sunday ;  the  fields 
along  the  river  are  filled  with  young  and  old.  We  have 
become  as  godless  as  a  French  city.  I  have  been  reflect 
ing  soberly  on  the  problem,  and  I  want  to  take  further 
counsel  with  you  before  you  go  back,"  concluded  the  city 
father,  looking  at  his  guest  with  earnest  thoughtfulness 
in  his  gray  eye. 

"  I'm  afraid  you'll  not  get  much  comfort  or  food  for 


THE  HELOT'S  HAND.  23 

your  present  convictions  from  me,  Warchester,"  the  Gov 
ernor  broke  out  cheerily.  "I  believe  in  the  emigrant. 
God  bless  us,  a  hundred  years  ago  we  were  all  emigrants. 
Suppose  the  Mohawks  had  set  up  the  same  principle, 
where  would  our  fine  old  families  be  now  ?  No,  no  ;  we 
must  welcome  cordially  the  nomad  of  every  land,  and 
give  him  welcome  and  the  means  of  enriching  himself  and 
us.  But  there  is  a  broader  question  involved.  This  coun 
try  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  a  refuge  for  mankind.  That  the 
eternal  destiny  of  the  race  was  so  ordered,  the  history  of 
the  continent  proves.  It  was  reserved  by  the  universal 
rule  of  things,  until  the  known  world  became  so  crowded, 
corrupt,  and  intolerable,  that  the  ways  and  deeds  that 
heaven  orders  were  lost  sight  of,  and  could  only  be  re 
sumed  by  the  vast  tranquillity  of  this  virgin  continent. 
Here  is  a  land  where  the  distressed  shall  come  for  all 
time  and  pitch  a  tent  of  peace.  No,  Warchester,  you 
can't  swing  back  the  gates  heaven  has  flung  open.  The 
Irish  and  German  customs  may  not  be  to  our  taste,  but 
men  are  insensibly  molded  by  their  surroundings,  and  you 
will  be  surprised  to  see  how  soon  these  strangers  conform 
themselves  to  such  ways  of  ours  as  are  worth  imitation. 
The  children  of  the  present  generation  will  be  wholly  of 
us,  with  no  trace  of  their  alien  origin  in  mind  or  manner." 
"  But  their  ways  are  so  abominable,"  interrupted  the 
young  lawyer.  "  The  Irish  are  such  a  tipsy,  whisky-guz 
zling  lot — never  sober,  never  peaceful  ;  always  wrangling, 
beating  their  wives,  pillaging  their  homes,  and  dispersing 
their  families  to  the  common  refuge  of  strangers.  The 
Germans  are  not  so  repulsive.  They  do  not  ruin  their 
families  by  drink.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  they  drive 
them  brutally  to  labor,  and,  as  for  their  wives,  they  make 
them  bear  the  burdens  of  the  household  and  the  fields. 
When  I  was  in  Europe  I  saw  German  women  harnessed 

2 


24  THE  ALIENS. 

to  carts  with  cows,  asses,  and  dogs,  and  I  am  constantly 
expecting  to  see  the  same  thing  here." 

"  Oh,  those  are  mere  phases  of  certain  forms  of  for 
eign  life,  that  do  not  survive  long  residence  in  this  coun 
try.  I  have  no  doubt  educated  Germans  or  Irishmen 
would  find  habits  and  ways  in  us  quite  as  repulsive  as 
those  you  remark,  if  we  were  forced  to  choose  our  homes 
at  random  among  the  Europeans." 

The  subject,  however,  had  become  much  more  serious 
than  the  company  relished,  and  the  young  people  de 
manding  music,  there  followed  a  merry  reel,  Mrs.  War- 
chester  leading  off  in  great  splendor  with  the  Governor, 
who  was  known  "  to  fling  the  lightest  heel  in  twenty  town 
ships  ! " 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   CUP   THAT   CHEERS. 

THE  prim  festivities  came  to  an  end  at  midnight — an 
hour  bordering  upon  the  unseemly,  in  any  other  than  the 
grand  Warchester  mansion,  in  those  times  of  primitive  di 
versions  and  Puritan  aftermath.  In  the  sallies  of  the  com 
pany  it  was  remarked  that  Marcus  Dunn  had  been  curi 
ously  reserved  for  a  favored  lad  of  his  years.  He  was 
known  to  be  a  sober  youth  by  habit,  and  not  quite  uncon 
strained  in  the  presence  of  his  aunt.  The  young  damsels, 
who  had  looked  forward  with  lively  expectation  for  his 
return  from  the  East,  agreed  among  themselves  that  the 
youth's  wits  were  not  so  lively  as  those  of  his  less-favored 
companions  who  had  ended  their  schooling  in  the  War 
chester  Academy.  There  were  significant  glances  when 


THE  CUP    THAT  CHEERS.  2$ 

Mark,  in  answer  to  a  question,  said,  abstractedly,  that  he 
was  not  sure  that  he  should  remain  in  Warchester. 

"  Ah,  Master  Mark,  your  heart  used  to  be  here  ;  surely 
you  have  not  left  it  with  any  of  the  favored  lasses  in  New 
York  ? "  Hapgood  said  after  one  of  these  sallies. 

Mistress  Warchester,  at  the  head  of  the  table,  heard 
this  jest  and  pursed  her  thin  lips  resolutely. 

"  Boys  of  Mark's  age  have  other  business  than  think 
ing  of  hearts.  I  hope  my  sister's  son  knows  the  duties 
that  lie  ahead  of  him,  before  he  gives  way  to  follies  of  that 
sort ! " 

Mark  blushed,  and  his  interlocutor  shrunk  back  guilt 
ily,  for  didn't  everybody  in  Warchester  know  that  four 
years  before  Master  Mark  had  been  banished  to  West 
Point  because  he  had  given  his  boyish  heart  to  pretty 
Molly  Myrickson,  the  daughter  of  the  rich  banker  who 
had  begun  his  career  in  Warchester  in  the  grimy  black 
smith-shop  near  the  Blue  Eagle  tavern  ?  Molly's  pretty, 
bright,  and  roguish  eyes  had  captivated  the  boy  of  fifteen, 
and  it  was  not  until  they  had  passed  tender  words  in  the 
cherry-lane  behind  the  Warchester  mews  that  the  amour 
came  to  the  horrified  ears  of  Mistress  Warchester.  There 
was  a  dismal  combat  between  the  angry  aunt  and  the  qua 
vering  boy.  He  vowed  eternal  fidelity  to  the  charmer  ; 
but  presently  the  decree  came  to  go  to  West  Point,  and  he 
finally  succumbed,  pledging  his  honor  not  to  write  or  in 
any  way  renew  the  courtship  until  such  time  as  he  was  his 
own  master.  He  had  cherished  the  sweet  agony  during 
his  first  years  in  the  Academy ;  but  evil  tidings  came  that 
Molly  had  given  her  hand  to  another — the  great  Lord 
Poultney — and  Marcus  retained  the  sting  of  the  disap 
pointment  as  well  as  the  bitter-sweet  of  the  first  passion — 
a  taste  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  that  is  not  knowledge  nor 
life. 


26  THE  ALIENS. 

When  the  guests  had  gone,  the  young  man  found  the 
sleeping-rooms  hot  and  intolerable.  He  passed  out  on 
the  veranda,  and  set  off  down  the  dim,  deeply  shaded 
roadway.  The  heavy  air  swooned  with  an  odorous  burden 
— enervating,  soothing.  Pygmy  armies  of  fire-flies  filled 
the  night  like  showers  of  glowing  coals  on  the  background 
of  leafy  green.  The  gleaming  spray  rose  and  fell  before 
him  as  he  sauntered  on,  lost  in  delight.  Many  of  his 
aunt's  guests  still  lingered  in  the  grounds,  and  he  resolved 
upon  a  moonlight  ramble  if  he  could  get  a  congenial 
companion  so  minded.  The  dispersing  groups  wandered 
streetward,  chattering  freely  of  the  fete,  the  personages, 
and  the  thousand  and  one  trifles  that  interest  womankind 
— and  sometimes  mankind,  for  that  matter.  The  company 
was  made  up  from  what,  even  in  those  days,  was  instinct 
ively  regarded  as  the  Court  quarter  of  the  town  ;  for,  from 
the  first,  Warchester's  social  demarkations  were  as  distinct 
ly  drawn  and  enforced  as  the  well-born  in  Bogenberg  or 
De  Vereville.  Marcus  caught  the  drift  of  the  comments 
upon  Governor  Darcy.  They  were  vivaciously  condemna 
tory,  and  it  was  generally  agreed  that  the  "  low  social  sur 
roundings  and  common  atmosphere  "  of  the  "  Capital  " 
had  obscured  Governor  Darcy 's  former  fine  perceptions. 
Others  again  were  "surprised"  that  a  woman  favored  by 
such  rearing  as  Mrs.  Warchester  should  have  set  such  a 
feast  before  young  men  !  Wine  and  peach-brandy  on  the 
table !  What  if  it  were  from  the  hand  of  the  Washing- 
tons  ?  Wasn't  it  well  known  that  George  Washington 
loved  the  bottle  too  well  ?  Hadn't  he  passed  days  roist 
ering  with  my  Lord  Marquis  de  Lafayette  ?  Hadn't  he 
ruined  the  stock  of  this  country  by  begging  his  dear  mar 
quis  to  procure  him  a  brace  of  jackasses  from  the  king  of 
Spain  ?  Hadn't  he  wickedly  sent  to  Malta  for  these  odious 
beasts  and  paid  as  much  as  a  Christian  would  pay  for  a 


THE  CUP   THAT  CHEERS.  27 

house?  Worse  than  this.  Hadn't  Mrs.  Warchester  set 
off  an  apartment  for  the  men  to  play  and  smoke  in  ? 
What  were  the  God-fearing  of  Warchester  coming  to 
if  such  European  excesses  as  this  were  to  be  en 
couraged  ? 

Marcus  was  not  edified  by  the  tone  the  comments  be 
gan  to  take,  and  though  he  was  not  fond  of  his  aunt, 
nor  congenial  to  his  uncle,  he  resented  the  baseness  that 
made  their  hospitality  the  topic  of  demeaning  tattle.  But 
the  young  fellow  really  had  something  else  on  his  mind. 
The  scene  at  the  debarkation  of  the  emigrants  haunted 
him.  Indeed,  the  eyes  and  form  of  the  martyr-like  moth 
er  had  never  quitted  him  during;  the  week's  journey  from 
the  sea.  He  wandered  to  the  wharf,  idly  wondering  if  he 
should  find  them  there. 

Meanwhile  the  personage  whose  presumptuous  human 
ity  had  precipitated  this  discussion  was  by  his  conduct 
amply  justifying  all  the  strictures  expressed  by  the  severe 
social  Areopagus  at  the  Mayor's  mansion.  Hugh  had  put 
on  dry  raiment  under  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  ware 
house  as  a  tireing-room,  and  in  his  Sunday  corduroys  and 
smart,  green  frock  presented  an  appearance  in  sharp  con 
trast  to  the  figure  of  an  hour  before. 

"  Why  doesn't  me  brother  James  come  ?  He  must 
have  got  me  letther  long  before  this  ?  Sure  he  knows  we 
don't  know  where  to  seek  him  ? "  he  said,  as  his  wife  sat 
sad-eyed,  with  the  children  huddled  beside  her. 

Darkness  fell,  slowly  and  softly,  on  the  lonely  Aliens 
after  the  crowd  had  gone.  The  elder  children  wandered 
about,  lost  in  wonder  at  the  strange  sights  of  the  new  city. 
Hugh  strode  back  and  forth,  looking  impatiently  at  every 
one  that  approached  from  the  street — expecting  the  broth 
er  that  was  to  induct  his  brood  into  their  new  home  and 
eagerly  anticipated  future.  Letters  had  been  dispatched 


28  THE  ALIENS, 

from  New  York,  where  the  family  had  been  detained, 
warning  the  kinsman  of  the  arrival. 

James  Boyne  had  given  his  brother  small  encourage 
ment  to  quit  his  native  land  ;  but  when  he  found  that  it 
was  decided,  he  wrote  to  say  that  he  could  find  work  for 
Hugh,  and  would  prepare  a  place  for  the  family  or  give 
it  shelter  until  a  home  could  be  chosen  after  the  mother's 
own  mind.  Hugh  had  set  out  with  high  hopes  and  joy 
ous  anticipations  of  the  future  for  himself  and  his  boys  in 
the  new  and  wonderful  land  beyond  the  Western  sea.  But 
Kate  was  sorely  against  the  change.  They  were  happy  in 
the  old  home.  Their  stone  cottage  and  well-tilled  fields 
were  known  throughout  the  county  for  thrift  and  tidiness. 
Here  she  had  been  courted  and  won,  and  every  furze- 
bush,  every  violet  in  the  ditch,  and  every  holly  in  the 
hedge,  had  a  tale  for  her  soft  eyes  that  echoed  deep  into 
her  senses  ;  and  now,  as  the  hours  passed,  and  there  was 
no  sign  of  the  expected  kinsman,  anxiety  and  terror  sank 
deeply  into  the  mother's  heart. 

"  Come,  Kate,  don't  be  down-hearted,"  said  the  hus 
band,  stroking  her  hair  fondly.  "  Sure  there's  nothing  to 
fear.  It's  a  fine  night,  and  we  may  as  well  be  here  as 
anywhere." 

"Ah,  Hugh,  dear,  I  can't  draw  a  free  breath  while 
we're  this  way.  It's  a  hard,  cold  country  we've  come  to. 
Did  ye  see  the  woman,  when  ye  handed  her  the  boy  ? 
Sure  my  lady  of  Louth  wouldn't  give  a  navvy  a  look 
like  it." 

"  Well,  never  trouble,  Kate,  dear  :  little'  we  care  how  she 
looked  ;  we'll  never  set  eyes  on  her  again,  praise  God  ! 
James  is  kept  late  at  his  work,  likely.  He'll  be  sure  to 
come,  for  he  knows  the  ship  came  in.  Luk  at  the  Dutch 
divil,  beyant,"  he  added,  jovially.  "  Be  me  sowl,  he'll 
have  a  shebeen  over  him  and  a  ditch  turfed  before  he's 


THE  CUP    THAT  CHEERS. 


29 


a  week  older "  ;  and  he  burst  into  a  low,  frank  laugh  at 
the  expense  of  the  guileless  Saxon  alternating  vast  whiffs  of 
smoke  with  copious  drafts  of  beer,  and  wedges  of  black 
bread,  larded  with  sticky  white  cheese.  Soon  there  was  a 
bustle  in  the  German  group.  A  noise  of  hearty  greeting — 
much  explosive  kissing  on  the  part  of  the  men  as  well  as 
the  women,  and  presently,  with  their  goods  packed  on  two 
large  wagons,  the  fair-haired  Saxons  drove  off,  chattering 
briskly.  The  release  of  these  companions  in  misery  ac 
cented  the  loneliness  of  the  remaining  exiles.  However, 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  await  the  appearance  of  the 
brother.  As  the  twilight  deepened  one  of  the  children  was 
dispatched  to  a  neighboring  grocer's  for  food,  and,  when 
it  came,  the  table  was  spread  on  a  large  box,  the  children 
gathering  around  joyously,  as  though  the  open  air  were 
their  normal  state. 

The  young  stars  came  out  in  gleaming  webs  of  light 
above  their  heads,  as  they  had  never  seen  them  before  in 
the  low  horizon  of  the  fatherland  ;  the  crescent  moon 
hung  on  the  deep  misty  edge  of  the  neighboring  hills  ;  the 
water  plashed  murmuringly  under  the  softened  outline  of 
the  Rialto  ;  and  the  lessening  bustle  of  the  town  sank  into 
summer-night's  silence.  As  the  moon  was  obscured  be 
hind  the  hill,  a  thick,  transparent  darkness  succeeded. 
The  town  was  buried  in  shadows.  Still  the  brother  did 
not  come.  The  children  had  bestowed  themselves  on  the 
soft  luggage,  and  lay  in  various  postures,  peacefully  sleep 
ing,  when  ten  o'clock  tolled  from  the  neighboring  steeple. 
The  mother,  dozing  fitfully,  started  as  the  sound  fell  on 
her  ear.  She  counted  the  strokes  aloud,  and  then  cried 
anxiously : 

"  Hugh,  ye'll  do  better  to  get  beds  in  some  near  pub 
lic  house  for  th'  night;  it's  clear  James'll  not  be  comin'  to 
us  at  this  hour.  We  can  search  for  him  th'  morrow.  I'm 


30  THE  ALIENS. 

beat  with  worry  and  heart-ache  th'  night,  and  I  must  get 
rest  !  " 

Hugh  agreed  with  the  suggestion,  and  went  off  to  get 
quarters  for  the  homeless  brood.  The  children,  mean 
while,  with  childish  adaptability,  were  sleeping  peacefully 
as  the  night  went  on  and  Hugh  didn't  come.  The  bells 
of  the  big  stone  church  over  among  the  trees,  whence  the 
chief  business  mart  of  Warchester  has  long  since  driven 
it,  tolled  the  half  hour.  The  three  women  clustered  in  a 
group,  silent  and  desolate. 

"  Surely,  Nancy,  Hugh  can't  be  all  this  time  seeking 
beds  ?  Something  must  have  come  till  him.  Oh,  sorry's 
th'  day  the  farm  was  sold  and  we  come  till  this  cold,  cold 
country  !  " 

"  Keep  your  heart,  Kate,  darlin',  an'  sure  it's  all  rich 
we'll  be  afther  we're  here  awhile,  an'  go  back  till  th' 
blessed  land  and  live  like  squireens." 

''It's  cold  comfort  to  smell  the  furze  on  the  hedge 
when  yer  up  till  yer  neck  in  the  bog,  Nancy,  dear.  Where 
in  th'  name  o'  God  can  Hugh  be  ?  Oh — sorrow — sorrow 
th'  day  we  did  it — sorrow — sorrow  !  " 

The  babe  woke  at  this,  and  added  its  plaintive  cry  to 
the  woful  symphony. 

"  Larry,  boy,  do  you  come  with  me  and  we'll  see 
what's  happened  to  dada  " ;  and  Nancy,  rousing  the  elder 
of  the  boys,  set  off  in  the  direction  the  missing  parent  had 
gone.  Midnight  was  ringing  from  the  church-tower  be 
fore  the  two  returned.  Nancy  was  crying  softly  and  Lar 
ry  was  laughing. 

"  Did  ye  find  him  ?  What  is  it  ?  Speak  up  !  "  cried 
Kate,  starting  from  a  doze. 

"  O  mammy,  he's  drunk  as  a  lord  in  the  shebeen  of 
Teddy  Donigan  of  Dundaff — that  was  beyant  the  hill  of 
Ballinasloe  "  ;  and  Larry,  very  much  amused  at  the  spec- 


THE  CUP    THAT  CHEERS.  31 

tacle  he  had  seen,  and  won  by  a  bright-hued  "stick  of 
sugar  candy,"  felt  rather  proud  than  otherwise  of  the  re 
ception  the  exile  had  been  given  by  his  compatriot. 

"  Teddy  says  we're  to  bring  th'  childer  and  stop  with 
him.  He  has  beds  enough  for  all." 

"  And  what's  to  be  done  with  the  boxes  and  luggage  ?  " 
asked  the  mother  peevishly.  "  We'll  be  robbed  out  of 
house  and  home  if  we  leave  them  here." 

"  Mag  an'  the'  byes  might  stay  by  them  till  some  of 
th'  men  beyant  culd  come  for  them,"  suggested  Nancy 
doubtfully. 

"  Divil  a  wan  o'  me'll  stay,"  interrupted  Master  Larry 
promptly. 

"  Ye'll  do  as  ye're  bid,  or  I'll  tell  th'  father  on  ye." 

"'Twas  me  da,  himself,  bid  me  come  back  till  him," 
muttered  the  youngster,  skulking  behind  the  boxes. 

"  Mag,  are  ye  there  ?  "  (Mag  was  a  neighbor's  daugh 
ter,  under  the  care  of  the  Boynes.) 

"  I  am ;  be  me  sowl,  I  was  fast  asleep  as  the  saints  in 
Wicklow,"  and  Mag,  yawning,  cheerfully  hustled  forward, 
and,  being  informed  of  her  assignment,  assented  readily. 

"  Larry,  ye'll  stay  with —  Where  are  ye,  Larry,  boy  ? 
Larry,  I  say,  d'ye  hear  me  ?  " 

But  there  was  no  Larry  ;  and,  as  the  mother  began  to 
sob  at  the  disobedience  and  perversity  of  her  first-born, 
his  brother,  who  had  been  aroused  by  the  clamor,  came  to 
the  mother's  side,  pulled  her  skirt  to  attract  her  attention, 
whispering  timidly  : 

"  Don't  tell  dada  on  him,  mother.  I'll  stay  with  Mag 
till  they  come.  That's  a  good  mother  ;  don't  cry !  " 

The  babe  had  been  taken  by  Nancy,  and  Kate,  stoop 
ing  down  on  her  knees,  caught  the  child  passionately  to 
her  heart,  hugging  and  moaning  convulsively,  "Oh,  ye 
are  mammy's  boy.  God — God  in  heaven  bless  him,  and 


32  THE  ALIENS. 

God  pardon  me  that  I  have  a  heavy  heart,  when  he  sent 
me  this  child  for  comfort." 

"  Sure,  it'll  be  mornin',  Kate,  if  ye  don't  haste,  an' 
we'll  be  a  show  for  all  th'  people  !  "  and  Nancy,  bending 
with  the  babe  in  her  arms,  touched  the  kneeling  woman's 
shoulder.  The  mother  rose,  lifting  the  child  with  her. 

"  There,  Mag,  darlin',  keep  the  childer  safe  till  Ted 
dy  Donigan  comes  fur  them." 

Nancy  led  the  way,  the  cross  and  sleepy  girls  stagger 
ing  along  the  dimly  lighted  street,  for  Warchester  did  not 
then  present  the  illuminated  splendor  that  may  now  be 
traversed  for  a  circumference  of  five  or  more  miles.  The 
rush  of  falling  waters  could  be  heard  as  they  made  their 
way  through  the  silent  street.  Turning  to  the  left,  Nancy 
pushed  on  until  at  a  light  shining  in  a  window  she  stopped. 

"  Here  it  is,"  she  said  simply,  and  drew  back  to  give 
the  mother  precedence.  It  was  a  wooden  structure  but 
little  less  shabby  than  most  of  the  unpretending  edifices 
that  lined  the  river  street  of  Warchester.  Through  the 
thin  walls  could  be  heard  the  jovial  chorus  of  "  The  Night 
before  Larry  was  Stretched,"  scored  by  emphatic  clinking 
of  glasses.  Kate,  lifting  the  latch  —  for  there  were  no 
knobs  in  that  quarter  in  those  days — entered  a  large  room 
lighted  by  candles  and  thick  with  smoke.  A  long  table, 
serving  as  a  bar,  occupied  the  whole  side  of  the  room  near 
est  the  door.  Behind  this  stood  the  rosy-faced  compatriot 
who  had  given  Hugh  such  exuberant  welcome. 

"  And  sure  it's  the  wife  hersel'  !  "  he  exclaimed  hearti 
ly,  coming  out  from  behind  the  table  and  taking  her  hand 
cordially.  "  And  Kate,  dear,  yer  as  bloomin'  as  th'  day  I 
kissed  ye,  when  ye  was  gatherin'  shamrocks  in  the  pad 
dock  of  Dundare.  Well,  well,  and  to  say  yer  th'  mother 
of  five  fine  childer !  " 

"  I've  a  heavy  heart,  Teddy.     I  wish  I  was  back  in 


THE  CUP   THAT  CHEERS. 


33 


Dundare,  instead  of  here.  'Twas  a  sorry  day  that  I  quit  it 
— a  sore  day  !  " 

"And  is  that  yer  notion  ?  D'ye  moind  me  now  :  ye'll 
not  be  th'  length  of  yer  arm  in  the  land  till  ye'll  love  it ; 
ye'll  not  know  th'  people  a  day  till  ye'll  find  thim  all  as 
near  ye  as  Barney  Boyne's  pigs  in  Down  Patrick  sty — that 
were  so  thick,  bedad,  that  th'  wan  scratched  the  others' 
back  and  left  each  other  nothing  to  do  but  ate.  Sore  are 
ye  indeed,  Kate,  dear  ?  Ye'll  not  be  here  a  month  till  yer 
that  glad  that,  if  th'  parish  of  Dundare  was  at  yer  back 
dure,  ye'll  be  that  proud  ye  wouldn't  dig  the  praties  for 
the  pigs." 

He  laughed  and  winked  in  affable  comradeship,  and 
laid  his  large  red  hand  on  the  astonished  woman's  shoul 
der  in  the  glow  of  this  revived  amity. 

"  Och,  indeed,  be  me  sowl,  'tis  true  for  me  !  It's  a  foine 
land  this.  Th'  money  just  makes  itself,  me  dear,  and 
Hugh  '11  be  as  rich  as  me  Lord  Louth  before  ye  tache  the 
wee  childer  to  lisp  the  spache  of  the  land." 

He  looked  about  and  winked  irrepressible  knowing- 
ness  at  this  delicate  stroke,  and,  finding  Hugh  listening, 
continued,  "It's  niver  a  poteen  or  praty  a  mon  wants 
here.  There's  niver  a  mon  satisfied  till  he  knows  whether 
ye  have  a  mouth  on  ye !  Niver  a  bailiff  to  whisk  th' 
leather  from  yer  fut,  th'  straw  from  yer  flure,  or  th' 
praties  from  yer  pot.  Niver  a  lard  to  luk  big  or  moind  ye 
that  yer  only  made  from  the  bogs,  while  he's  of  the  mar 
ble  of  Dundalk !  None  to  make  bastes  of  th'  childer  and 
drabs  of  th'  wenches  !  No,"  added  the  social  student  of 
international  differentiations,  as  the  company  acclaimed 
these  proud  periods,  "  no,  bedad,  nor  a  gintry  to  rid  the 
rood  of  ye  as  the  dogs  drive  the  pigs  !  " 

Then,  observing  that  Kate  was  pulling  at  Hugh's  elbow 
and  urging  him  to  arouse  himself,  he  added  jovially, 


34  THE  ALIENS. 

"  Arrah,  let  th'  lad  alone.  It's  a  long  day  since  he  sat 
down  ferninst  a  friend.  He'll  be  all  the  better  for  a  wee 
spree  the  first  night  he  puts  fut  in  the  place.  He  won't 
be  here  a  year  before  his  chist  '11  be  as  full  of  gould  as 
Biddy  Maguire's  ditches  of  yellow  gorze." 

Hugh  was  wholly  overcome.  Stretched  almost  at  full 
length  on  two  chairs,  the  rest  of  the  company  were  clink 
ing  glasses  above  him  in  a  sort  of  clan  rite  unknown  to 
his  wife.  She  strove  in  wild  terror  to  rescue  him  from 
the  maudlin  company,  but  every  one  joined  in  friendly 
rivalry  to  "keep  the  lad  a  bit  to  enjoy  himself."  Unable 
to  endure  the  atmosphere  longer,  and  dead  with  fatigue, 
Kate  fell  upon  the  floor  in  a  faint.  The  elder  girl 
screamed  as  she  saw  her  mother  falling,  and  the  soberest 
of  the  company  threw  the  door  back  to  give  air  to  the 
swooning  woman.  The  suppressed  cries  and  movement 
of  the  place  arrested  the  attention  of  Marcus  Dunn,  who 
was  sauntering  back  from  a  view  of  the  cataract  after  he 
found  the  wharf  deserted.  He  hastened  over,  not  alto 
gether  certain  of  the  wisdom  of  entering  such  questionable 
quarters.  When  he  saw  the  Madonna  of  the  voyage  lying 
in  a  swoon,  he  recognized  the  need  of  a  cool  head,  and,  lift 
ing  the  limp  figure  from  the  floor,  he  carried  it  to  the  door, 
and  then,  with  the  aid  of  hartshorn,  soon  restored  the  vic 
tim  to  the  miserable  consciousness  of  her  surroundings. 
As  her  large  eyes  rested  with  a  flash  of  recognition  on  the 
strange  face,  she  murmured  : 

"  No,  no,  my  lord ;  you  can't  mean  that  for  the  truth 
— talkin'  to  the  likes  of  me." 

"Kate,  dear,"  said  the  servant  Nancy,  clasping  the 
recumbent  figure,  "  sure  it  isn't  Lord  Louth  at  all.  It's 
a  strange  gentleman,  ye  don't  know  at  all,  at  all ! " 

With  a  hasty  glance  at  the  interior,  where  the  tipsy 
father  now  lay  sprawling  on  the  floor,  Marcus  Dunn,  not 


THE  CUP    THAT  CHEERS.  35 

caring,  not  daring  indeed,  to  await  the  woman's  complete 
consciousness,  walked  away,  reflecting  bitterly  on  the  sig 
nificance  of  the  phases  of  life  he  had  seen  since  sundown. 
The  sum  of  these  midnight  reveries  would  not  have  been 
accepted  as  just  or  tolerable  by  the  fine  company  with 
whom  the  young  man  had  spent  the  evening.  But  he  was 
young.  He  had  just  passed  years  of  generous  emulation 
among  the  opening  intellects  of  youth  and  in  the  broader 
thoughts  of  an  old  community.  He  had  read  Rousseau, 
studied  Jefferson,  and  was  much  given  to  the  whimsical 
doctrines  of  the  then  dominant  schools  abroad. 

As  Kate  passed  back  through  the  stupefying  fumes  of 
the  tap-room  to  her  chamber,  Hugh  was  lying  prostrate, 
half  on  the  floor  and  half  on  an  overturned  chair.  He 
was  babbling  incoherently  of  flowering  deeps  and  the 
cresses  that  grew  in  the  brook  of  Derrydell,  where  his 
darling  Kate  had  given  her  pledge  across  running  water, 
and  he  had  carried  her  away  from  the  envious  courting  of 
the  young  lord  of  the  land.  She  tried  to  lift  him,  to 
arouse  him,  but  the  orgy  had  gone  too  far.  Teddy  was 
outraged  by  this  reflection  on  his  hospitality,  and  animated 
the  victim  sufficiently  to  prompt  him  to  put  his  paternal 
mandate  upon  the  mother.  Kate  remonstrated  tearfully, 
but  the  tipsy  father,  crazed  by  a  tipple  new  to  his  palate, 
became  morosely  imperative,  and  ordered  her  to  take  the 
"  childer  "  to  bed  and  leave  him  in  peace.  She  was  forced 
to  stand  by  helpless  and  see  her  weary  little  ones  hilarious 
ly  toasted  and  fondled  by  the  reeking  bacchanals.  Her 
weary  mind  went  back  to  other  days  and  other  scenes, 
when  men  made  merry,  but  in  no  such  reprobate  uproari- 
ousness  as  this  :  the  memory  of  gorze-lined  ditches  and 
blooming  bogs,  where  Hugh  and  she  had  gathered  the 
shamrock  and  woven  the  primroses  in  chaplets,  where  with, 
the  merry-makers  they  had  danced  on  the  green,  kissed 


36  THE  ALIENS. 

over  the  All-hallo\v-een  tub,  while  the  pipers  piped,  and 
the  lads  and  lasses  tripped  in  measure  over  crossed  twigs 
and  under  holly  bowers.  But  there  was  no  grog  to  mad 
den,  nor  such  hideous  speech  as  here.  Oh,  how  she 
longed  to  be  back  in  the  dear  cottage,  with  the  soothing 
ripple  of  the  brook  and  the  children  at  play  ! 

The  next  day  Hugh  was  too  much  prostrated  by  his 
debauch,  and  too  ashamed,  to  make  inquiry  for  his 
brother.  But  the  second  day  James  came  himself.  He  had 
been  in  the  country  at  Millville,  and  had  not  received  the 
letter  announcing  the  arrival  of  the  exiles.  He  gave  them 
cold  welcome  to  his  own  house  until  they  could  find  one 
for  themselves ;  and,  with  a  heart  light  for  the  first  time 
since  she  had  touched  the  shore  of  the  country,  Kate 
gathered  her  little  ones  and  hurried  from  the  dreadful 
place  identified  with  Hugh's  downfall. 

"  Darcy  must  be  bent  on  renomination,"  said  Colonel 
Warchester  to  his  neighbor  Hapgood,  a  day  or  two  later, 
as  they  walked  homeward  from  the  council-chamber. 
"  When  we  went  to  the  mills  yesterday  he  made  inquiry 
for  the  hero  of  that  exploit,  and  left  word,  if  the  man 
were  found  before  his  departure  from  the  city,  that  he  was 
to  call  at  the  Governor's  house.  The  men  gave  him  a 
lusty  cheer  as  the  news  spread,  and  I  could  see  that  his 
long-headed  excellency  was  not  dissatisfied  with  his  after 
noon's  work.  Of  course  the  story  will  spread,  and,  whether 
this  particular  fellow  ever  hears  of  it  or  not,  Darcy  has 
gained  his  point." 

Dunn  heard  this  version  of  the  Governor's  good  offices 
the  same  evening,  and  repelled  the  insinuation  vehemently. 

"  My  father  knew  Richard  Darcy  since  boyhood,  and 
he  never  knew  a  selfish  or  unmanly  trick  in  him.  I  don't 
believe  the  Governor  ever  thought  of  self,  in  seeking  to 
commend  a  brave  fellow  for  a  brave  act  well  done.  But 


THE  CUP    THAT  CHEERS. 


37 


I  tell  you  what  it  is,  unless  you  change  your  methods  with 
these  foreigners  you  will  certainly  bring  about  the  condi 
tion  of  things  you  affect  to  fear.  You  claim  that  you  re 
sent  the  intrusion  of  other  nationalities,  because  they  bring 
debauchery  and  sink  into  squalor  here.  Very  well ;  how 
can  they  do  anything  else  when  you,  the  ruling  caste,  turn 
your  back  on  them,  and  actually  assign  them  the  same 
place  in  the  social  economy  that  the  Southerners  give  their 
slaves  ?  Take  one  case  in  point  :  I  was  deeply  interested 
in  the  people  surrounding  this  man  for  whom  Governor 
Darcy  made  inquiry.  The  wife  is  a  woman  of  the  rarest 
and  most  exquisite  beauty — even  under  the  disadvantages 
of  clumsy  drapery,  and  the  disorder  of  a  long  sea-voyage. 
I  studied  them  during  the  trip  from  New  York ;  as  they 
straggled  on  the  wharf  the  day  they  came  ;  and  by  a  chance, 
perplexing  as  it  was  disagreeable,  I  saw  them  again  after 
midnight  in  a  wretched  groggery  on  River  Street,  where, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  a  brother,  they  had  ignorantly 
taken  quarters  with  a  compatriot,  not  knowing  the  dubious 
surroundings  or  character  of  the  place.  Now,  if  this  fami 
ly  is  wrecked  by  the  dissoluteness  of  the  father,  whose 
fault  is  it?  Yours  and  mine.  We  should  have  agencies 
for  the  protection  of  these  homeless  wanderers,  which  on 
the  arrival  of  an  emigrant  vessel  should  direct  and  pro 
vide  until  the  helpless  victims  of  ignorance  and  rascality 
could  look  about  and  help  themselves." 

"  I  think  if  we  give  the  creatures  work  and  the  protec 
tion  of  our  laws,  we  are  doing  a  great  deal  more  than  their 
conduct  or  their  character,  as  exhibited  from  day  to  day, 
gives  them  any  right  to  expect,"  said  the  Rev.  Dundas 
Vernon,  with  a  sneer  of  benignant  pity  for  the  error  of  his 
friend  Dunn ;  and  with  that  the  young  man  ceased,  ashamed 
of  obtruding  his  opinion  where  it  was  so  obviously  unwel 
come. 


3  8  THE  ALIENS. 

Weeks  later,  Dunn,  passing  down  River  Street,  in  the 
early  dusk,  stopped  with  some  curiosity  before  Teddy's 
"  shebeen."  A  rollicking  chorus  could  be  heard  from  the 
inner  room,  and  an  occasional  clatter  of  heels  keeping 
time.  He  was  turning  away,  when  two  figures  came  into 
the  doorway.  Even  in  the  twilight  he  could  not  mistake 
the  supple  grace,  the  meek  dignity  of  the  emigrant  woman. 
The  man  was  hardly  recognizable.  His  open,  frank  coun 
tenance  was  swollen  and  bloated  ;  he  swayed  uneasily  as 
he  walked  and  clutched  at  every  available  object,  as  if  to 
brace  himself  against  further  advance.  Dunn  heard  the  soft 
voice  pleading ;  then  the  tearful  urging  turned  to  gentle 
force.  But,  when  the  two  had  gone  a  few  steps  from  the 
doorway,  a  leering  Silenus  thrust  his  head  out,  and,  spying 
the  two  figures  making  away,  shouted  : 

"  Hi,  byes,  luk  at  this.  There's  Joan  scuttling  off  wid 
Darby  at  her  tail,  and  divil  a  drop  in  the  kittle  at  home. 
I  say,  Hugh,  dear,  is  it  hot  wather  or  holy  wather  that  puts 
the  cock's  comb  on  the  hen  ? " 

A  shout  of  hiccoughy  laughter  followed  this  sally. 
Hugh  turned  unsteadily,  looked  at  the  speaker,  then  down 
at  the  slight  figure  of  his  wife. 

"  Don't  ye  see  yer  makin'  a  show  o'  me,  Kate  ?  Leave 
me,  I  say,  and  go  home  ;  go  home,  d'ye  hear  me,  ye  drab, 
go  home ! "  But  she  clung  the  more  desperate,  mur 
muring  piteously ;  he  shook  her  off  roughly,  and  made  a 
plunge  for  the  doorway,  where  the  outlines  of  a  dozen 
leering  faces  could  be  seen  framed  by  the  green  posts.  In 
an  instant  she  was  before  him  with  her  two  arms  about  his 
neck,  pleading.  He  thrust  her  off  again,  and,  as  she  made 
a  dart  to  return,  he  raised  his  mighty  fist.  Even  the  dazed 
intellects  in  the  doorway  were  aroused  by  this  piteous  little 
tragedy.  She  fell  prone  to  the  jagged  curb,  the  blood 
streaming  from  her  mouth.  A  second  time  Dunn's  arms 


THE  CUP    THAT  CHEERS. 


39 


supported  the  miserable  woman ;  a  second  time  her  tremu 
lous  breath  mingled  with  the  hot  rage  and  impatience  of 
his  own.  The  crowd,  attracted  by  the  fall,  brought  a  con 
stable  from  the  neighboring  fire-engine  house,  and  the  hus 
band,  moodily  out  of  view  of  the  prostrate  victim,  was 
arrested  and  hurried  away  to  the  lock-up.  Finding  that 
the  family  were  housed  some  distance  away,  Dunn  aided 
Kate  to  a  neighboring  apothecary's,  where  her  wounds 
were  washed.  She  cowered  in  sobbing  anguish  until  told 
to  get  up  and  go  home.  She  never  raised  her  eyes,  but 
arose  meekly  to  do  as  she  was  bid. 

At  the  door  she  did  not  recognize  who  took  her  hand, 
or  how  she  got  into  a  carriage  that  was  waiting.  Even 
the  novelty  of  riding  for  the  first  time  in  a  hackney-coach 
did  not  rouse  her  from  the  lethargy.  She  never  looked 
at  the  young  man  who  sat  silently  in  the  seat  before  her. 
Presently  the  carriage  stopped  before  a  square  cottage, 
sitting  far  back  in  a  trim  fruit-garden.  Dunn  opened  the 
door,  got  out,  and  stood  waiting.  She  never  stirred,  but 
sat  quite  collapsed  in  the  corner,  moving  her  hands  as  if 
counting. 

"  Come,"  he  said  gently — "  come,  Mrs.  Boyne  ;  your 
children  are  at  the  window  waiting  for  you." 

She  never  moved  ;  she  didn't  even  seem  to  hear.  Dunn 
turned  in  perplexity  to  the  driver,  and  asked  him  to  go  to 
the  house  and  bring  the  youngest  son,  Denny,  to  his  moth 
er.  He  had  remarked  the  mother's  fondness  for  this  child, 
and  he  rightly  judged  that  if  anything  would  rouse  her 
from  her  stupor  it  would  be  the  prattle  of  the  boy. 
When  the  little  man  came  shrinkingly,  he  could  hardly  be 
induced  to  get  into  the  carriage,  but,  seeing  his  mother, 
he  was  in  her  bosom  in  an  instant.  She  started,  wearily, 
pushing  him  from  her,  and  then  looking  about  her  aston- 
ishedly. 


40  THE  ALIENS. 

"Where  in  the  world  are  we,  Denny,  dear?  Is  it  in 
Dundare,  and  is  this  Lord  Louth's  coach  that  he  promised 
me  when — when —  Her  voice  fell,  and  she  looked  in 
startled  surprise  at  the  child. 

"  No,  mammy,  we're  here  at  Uncle  James's,  and  you 
must  come  to  the  house." 

He  led  her  out — led  her  past  her  benefactor,  of  whose 
presence  she  was  as  oblivious  as  she  seemed  to  be  of  every 
contemporary  thing.  In  an  instant  the  door  closed  upon 
mother  and  child.  Dunn  paid  the  coachman,  and  slowly 
betook  himself  cityward,  filled  with  reflections  that  he 
would  hardly  have  cared  to  define.  He  was  obviously 
less  puzzled  than  indignant  with  himself  in  his  inextin 
guishable  compassion  for  and  interest  in  this  hapless 
mother,  whose  fate  it  needed  no  prophetic  vision  to  fore 
tell.  To  say  that  the  angelic  endurance  and  serene  beauty 
haunted  him  would  be  but  a  poor  statement  of  the  fact. 
Her  fate  and  the  destruction  of  her  family  dwelt  with  him 
with  a  baleful  pertinacity  that  would  have  driven  him  mad 
had  he  not  relinquished  his  place  in  the  law-office  that  he 
had  just  come  to  fill. 

The  face  of  the  woful  mother  haunted  him.  He 
couldn't  understand  it.  There  was  no  possibility  of  the 
love  that  makes  men  mad.  Could  it  be  that  he,  a  lad 
barely  twenty,  loved  and  longed  for  the  mother  of  a 
family  of  children?  But  what  was  the  restless  longing 
to  see  her — to  guard  her  against  the  wretchedness  that 
must  inevitably  fall  to  her  lot  in  the  condition  her  husband 
held  her?  He  was  a  "most  sober  mind,"  as  his  uncle 
often  described  him,  this  sage  Marcus  Dunn,  but  there 
was  surprising  fire  in  his  eye  and  swift  action  in  his  young 
limbs  when  he  thought  on  the  "  Murillo  mother,"  as  he 
insisted  on  calling  the  helpless  Kate. 

She,  poor  thing,  falling  deeper  and  deeper  under  the 


THE  DREGS  OF   THE  FLACON.  41 

burden  of  her  poignant  woe  day  by  day,  never  even  saw 
the  shy  benefactor  that  in  many  a  way  spared  the  mother 
afflictions,  until  his  very  goodness  became  a  danger,  for  the 
malicious  made  a  mock  of  the  "  gentleman's  "  solicitude 
for  the  drunkard's  wife.  Then  he  realized  the  madness 
of  the  feeling  gnawing  in  his  heart,  and  he  resolved  to  fly 
— as  many  a  wiser  never  had  the  constancy  to  do. 

He  arranged  to  travel  for  a  time ;  and,  when  the  Gov 
ernor  returned  to  the  capital,  Marcus  Dunn  accompanied 
him.  He  put  the  sea  between  him  and  the  haunting  face : 
but  he  saw  it  in  the  galleries  of  the  Louvre ;  he  saw  it 
among  the  orange- groves  of  Seville,  where  Murillo  had 
found  and  loved  and  painted  it ;  he  saw  it  on  the  purple 
hills  of  Sorrento  ;  he  saw  it  by  day  and  by  night. 

At  first  he  had  been  filled  with  a  sense  of  triumph  over 
temptation  resisted  ;  then,  as  the  months  changed  into 
years,  his  mind  insensibly  shifted  the  conditions,  and  he 
saw  his  flight  a  shameful  cowardice,  an  ignoble  surrender 
to  airy  specters,  that  no  man  of  resolution  would  heed. 
Then  he  conjured  the  wretched  family.  The  father,  with 
the  guardian-spirit  of  self-respect  stifled  by  the  disgrace 
of  prison,  lower  and  lower  deeps,  until  death  in  the  gutter 
ends  the  woful  history.  And  she  ?  What  of  her,  with 
her  radiant  beauty  and  child- like  ignorance  of  the  world 
and  its  ways  ? 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   DREGS    OF    THE    FLACON. 

IT  will,  I  own,  be  mostly  my  fault  if  "  grandeur  hear 
with  a  disdainful  smile  the  short  and  simple  annals  "  of 
these  poor  personages.  Even  so  plain  a  man  as  Carlyle 


42  THE  ALIENS. 

loved  better  to  tell  the  story  of  a  Frederick  the  Great, 
Marie  Antoinette,  or  the  kingly  in  letters,  than  the  pa 
thetic  vicissitudes  of  a  Rousseau,  a  Marat,  or  a  Bunyan. 
Purple  and  gold  make  us  so  much  more  human,  so  much 
more  engaging,  so  much  more  worth  one's  while  read 
ing  about !  However,  it  is  not  my  business  to  rail  at 
the  world  or  its  worldliness  here  ;  there  seems  to  me  so 
much  that  illustrates  the  human  heart,  in  some  of  its  most 
trying  perplexities,  in  the  destiny  of  these  Alien  people, 
that  I  can  not  resist  the  impulse  to  portray  the  pathetic 
incidents  of  the  old-time  tragedy.  A  race  transplants  its 
virtues,  as  well  as  its  vices,  to  a  new  soil,  and  it  de 
pends  on  the  conditions  that  surround  their  growth  whether 
it  be  the  virtues  or  vices  that  flourish — whether  it  be  the 
worst  or  the  fittest  that  survives. 

Within  a  week  of  his  arrival  on  the  Rialto,  the  Saxon 
Ritter,  the  Boynes"  fellow-emigrant  on  the  Red  Jacket, 
was  lodged  in  a  tidy  tenement  in  a  part  of  the  city  that 
was  known  in  those  days  as  "  Dutchtown."  The  chil 
dren  old  enough  to  swing  their  arms  were  in  the  cotton- 
factory,  which,  even  at  this  early  day,  was  one  of  the 
wonders  of  Warchester.  The  father  was  at  once  taken 
into  a  brewery — a  modest  beginning  of  those  vast  edifices 
which  now  make  Warchester  the  Munich,  Pilsen,  or  Stras- 
burg  of  America.  The  first  floor  of  the  house  was  given 
up  to  a  beer-counter,  where  the  old  friends  and  neighbors 
of  the  new-comers  gathered  of  an  evening  to  revive  the 
pleasant  amities  of  the  fatherland,  Frau  Ritter  dispensing 
the  cheese  and  pretzels  with  a  thrifty  eye  to  her  small 
profits.  Oswald  and  Ruprecht,  the  boys,  were  already  at 
task  on  English  grammar,  which  they  studied  at  their 
work  and  in  the  long  evenings  at  home.  There  was  no 
sense  of  expatriation  in  the  burden  of  their  new  life. 
They  had  merely  changed  one  field  of  thrift  for  a  kinder 


THE  DREGS  OF  THE  FLACON. 


43 


one.  The  roof  that  covered  them  was  better,  and  the  ad 
vantages  ready  at  hand  were  greater,  than  they  could  have 
gained  by  a  life-time  in  the  crowded  Meissen  village  they 
had  quit  on  the  tranquil  banks  of  the  Elbe.  Instead  of 
black  bread  and  blood-sausage,  they  might  now  have  flour 
and  beef;  the  mother  and  little  ones,  instead  of  dragging 
a  cart,  harnessed  side  by  side  with  a  mastiff,  might  now 
on  small  capital  reap  such  profits  as  were  only  known  to 
the  rich  and  favored  in  their  Saxon  home.  Fuel  which 
had  at  Meissen  been  gathered  twig  by  twig,  carried  on 
bended  back  for  miles  over  the  hills,  might  here  be  picked 
up  free,  or  got  for  so  little  that  winter  was  no  terror  to  the 
homestead.  Heimweh,  that  palsy  of  nerve  and  muscle, 
they  never  knew.  All  was  Arcadian  in  this  new  land,  for 
plenty  smiled  on  every  hand.  Here  the  fields  were  greener, 
the  skies  bluer,  and  the  air  clearer,  than  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Elbe,  buried  from  October  to  May  in  cold  fogs  and  chilly 
blasts.  Then  the  reality  of  prospering  obliterated  all  re 
gret,  if  they  ever  had  any,  for  the  breaking  up  of  old  asso 
ciations.  Here  they  were  part  of  the  activities  of  society 
— social  and  political ;  at  home,  helots,  not  even  equal  in 
the  common  law  of  conscription.  Here  already  the  vote 
of  Herr  Hans  Ritter  was  carefully  recorded  by  the  Ger 
man  leader,  who  had  his  naturalization  papers  in  their  first 
stage  the  day  after  the  family  arrived.  This  alone  gave 
the  family  a  sense  of  personality  never  before  felt.  In  a 
few  years  they  too  would  be  of  the  gentility,  the  rulers  of 
this  rich  land  !  Servile,  with  a  servility  born  in  the  bone 
and  bred  in  the  long  life  of  emphasized  class  distinction, 
they  turned  as  naturally  to  the  ruling  party  as  the  Puritan 
to  the  Church  when  arriving  in  New  England.  The  revolu 
tionary  spirit  which  had  arrayed  the  Prussian  and  Baden 
Burschenschaften,  a  few  years  later,  against  the  German 
despots,  had  not  penetrated  the  Saxon  valleys.  There 


44 


THE  ALIENS. 


divine  right  was  as  implicit  a  creed  among  the  poor  as  it 
was  a  tenacious  doctrine  among  the  rich.  The  Ritters  had 
changed  locality,  not  nationality  ;  the  power  that  ruled  in 
the  new  Landschaft  might  not  be  Konig  or  Kaiser,  but 
the  essence  was  the  same — a  divine  thing  to  be  spoken  of 
with  awe,  implicitly  adored  and  unquestioningly  obeyed. 
Housed  in  walls  of  fragrant  pine,  sleeping  on  straw  or 
husk  mattresses,  the  memory  of  the  rough-plastered  stones, 
the  brick-tiled  floors,  and  prison-windows  of  their  Saxon 
home,  was  one  they  looked  back  upon  without  regret. 

But  the  other  family,  that  had  been  the  companions  of 
their  long  journey  from  Liverpool  on  the  sailing-vessel, 
and  then  on  the  canal-packet  to  Warchester,  did  not  find 
such  circumstances  of  happy  assimilation.  The  evil  planet 
that  arose  in  Hugh  Boyne's  destiny  was  at  its  apogee 
when  his  brother's  absence  from  town  that  night  of  the 
family's  coming  made  him  a  prey  to  the  convivial  assidui 
ties  of  his  compatriot. 

The  Celt  has  the  vanity  of  the  Gaul :  he  loves  to  love, 
he  loves  to  be  loved  ;  he  loves  to  admire,  and  he  loves  to 
be  admired.  He  loves  to  be  praised,  first  for  his  wit,  if  he 
have  any — if  not,  for  his  strength ;  if  he  have  neither  of 
these,  then  for  his  fidelity,  piety,  or  any  of  the  more  ad 
mirable  traits  that  come  from  the  heart.  But  if  he  have 
none  of  these,  no  mental  or  moral  pre-eminence,  he  is  apt 
to  abandon  himself  with  imbecile  improvidence  to  any 
dullard  temptation.  He  riots  in  the  excess  of  weakness. 
Refused  the  lead  in  admirable  traits,  he  must  be  the 
intrepid  law-breaker.  He  must  shame  the  Ashantee  in 
moral  squalor  when  there  is  no  play  in  his  wit  that  ex 
tracts  praise.  Tiger  and  monkey,  Voltaire  called  his  coun 
trymen,  the  Gaul.  Abdiel  and  Hecate,  the  Celt  might  be 
summed  up.  None  so  faithful  when  trust  is  given  them  ; 
none  so  rancorous  when  doubt  is  instilled. 


THE  DREGS  OF   THE  FLACON. 


45 


Hugh  Boyne  missed  the  Abdiel  rdle  by  the  merest 
chance.  Had  Governor  Darcy's  kindly  inquiry  for  him 
come  to  the  alien's  ears  ;  had  he  heard  that  the  Governor 
of  the  State  had  come  into  the  mill  to  ask  for  him — Hugh 
Boyne — he  would  have  found  a  way — frail  it  might  be  as 
the  Moslem's  Al  Sirat — a  way  of  light  and  faith  to  the  des 
tiny  he  was  fitted  for.  Had  any  one — had  James,  who 
knew  of  it — but  told  Hugh  that  Governor  Darcy,  before 
the  whole  mill,  had  praised  the  brave  fellow  and  prom 
ised  him  his  countenance  and  protection,  one  man  would 
have  been  spared  a  life  of  regretful  misery,  and  many  inno 
cent  souls  saved  such  sorrow  as  it  tears  the  heart-strings 
to  retell. 

James,  through  jealousy,  neglected  to  tell  his  brother ; 
and,  the  men,  through  ignorance  or  indifference,  never  took 
the  trouble  to  hunt  up  the  new-comer  ;  and  Hugh,  burning 
with  the  shame  of  a  detention  in  the  city  prison,  avoided 
the  sight  of  those  who  knew  him.  When  he  found  him 
self  in  the  gaol,  after  that  melancholy  scene  at  Donigan's, 
he  was  too  much  humiliated  to  go  home.  He  resolved  to 
quit  the  city — to  seek  a  farm  far  away  in  the  country,  set 
tle  the  family,  and  send  the  children  to  school.  He  still 
had  four  hundred  pounds  of  the  five  hundred  he  had 
when  setting  out  from  Belfast. 

That  was  enough  to  make  payment  on  a  modest  place, 
and,  far  from  the  haunts  of  the  deluding  companions  of 
his  past  excesses,  he  would  grow  up,  as  his  father  had 
done,  a  man  of  repute  in  his  neighborhood.  But  the 
money  was  in  his  brother's  chest  at  his  house.  If  he  went 
there  he  should  see  Kate,  and  he  wasn't  able  to  face  her 
without  breaking  down,  and  if  he  broke  down  he  knew 
that  he  would  fly  to  the  bottle.  He  wandered  aimlessly 
through  the  streets,  not  knowing  what  to  do. 

It  was  noontime,  and  the  men  were  hurrying  homeward 


46  THE  ALIENS. 

from  the  mills.  A  coherent  plan  worked  through  his  be 
wildered  brain.  James,  his  brother,  would  be  going  home 
to  dinner  presently.  He  would  get  him  to  fetch  the 
money.  He  walked  along  more  briskly  now ;  but  as  he  saw 
his  brother,  he  lost  some  of  his  confidence.  James  was  his 
senior  by  six  or  seven  years.  He  had  warned  him  sternly 
against  his  late  misdeeds,  and,  as  he  came  up  now,  the 
glance  he  bestowed  upon  the  prodigal  did  not  encourage 
any  effusive  confidences.  Before  he  could  frame  a  phrase 
to  pave  the  way  to  his  object,  James  said,  without  halting 
in  his  swift  stride,  which  obliged  Hugh  to  move  so  quickly 
as  to  disconcert  his  already  feeble  purpose  : 

"  Kate's  dying.  I  suppose  you  know.  It'll  be  small 
loss,  but  you've  no  call  to  make  a  show  of  us  all." 

The  eyes  of  the  brothers  met ;  Hugh  stretched  out  his 
mighty  arm  and  stopped  the  other  as  though  he  had  been 
a  child. 

"  Dying,  James  ?  Kate  ?  What  do  ye  mean  ?  Ye've 
not  been  hard  with  the  ^poor  girl  for  what's  past  ?  Ye 
don't  bear  a  grudge  for  the  old  quarrel  ? " 

"  I  mean  just  that.  I  suppose  she's  dying.  She  came 
home  yesterday  in  a  hack  and  went  to  bed.  She  was  in  a 
fever  all  night,  and  was  worse  this  morning  when  I  came 
away.  Why  don't  you  come  and  see  for  yourself  how  she 
is?  Shut  your  mouth  about  the  past.  She  made  her  bed  ; 
what's  it  to  me  whether  she  likes  it  or  not  ? " 

The  two  resumed  the  rapid  stride  the  sudden  an 
nouncement  had  interrupted,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they 
were  at  the  house.  Kate  was  very  low.  The  doctor  pre 
scribed  quiet,  and  forbade  the  intrusion  of  any  one  in  the 
invalid's  room,  outside  of  the  person  who  attended  her. 
She  must,  as  much  as  possible,  be  kept  from  seeing  any 
one  who  would  bring  up  the  immediate  past,  until  the 
unsettled  mind  was  stronger. 


THE  DREGS  OF   THE  FLACON. 


47 


"  Unsettled  !  "  Hugh  echoed,  gasping.  "  Is  she  mad, 
doctor,  dear  ?  " 

"  No,  she  is  not  mad  ;  but  she  might  easily  be  made 
so.  She  has  been  in  great  trouble ;  of  what  nature  you  of 
course  know.  If  it  recurs  she  will  be  a  raving  maniac, 
and  will  have  to  go  to  the  asylum." 

Hugh  sank  into  a  seat,  and,  burying  his  head  in  his 
hands,  sat  stolidly  in  the  same  place  from  noon  till  night 
fall.  When  James  came  home,  his  heart  relented,  and  he 
urged  the  unhappy  man  to  cheer  up.  After  supper  he  took 
down  his  fiddle  and,  going  into  the  garden,  played  the 
songs  they  used  to  love  in  their  old  home.  The  children 
stole  out  and  formed  a  group  about  them,  and  for  a  time 
Hugh  forgot  his  guilt  and  the  victim  of  his  weakness  lying 
in  the  room  beyond. 

Kate's  critical  condition  lasted  a  month.  The  instant 
that  Hugh  learned  that  she  was  out  of  danger  he  asked 
James  for  the  balance  of  the  money,  and  explained  his 
purpose  to  go  at  once  to  the  country. 

"  You  will  do  better  to  put  it  in  the  bank,"  said  the 
prudent  senior,  "  and  if  you  find  a  farm  that  suits  you, 
send  for  the  money.  It's  dangerous  to  carry  such  sums 
about  on  you." 

"  There  isn't  much  danger  for  me,"  said  Hugh,  stretch 
ing  out  his  sledge-like  arm.  "  It'll  be  a  bovvld  man  that'll 
run  agin  that." 

In  the  end  Hugh  set  out  with  the  money.  He  meant 
to  strike  for  the  rich  country  south  of  the  city.  On  his 
road  he  passed  the  Rialto  wharf.  A  packet  had  just 
drawn  up,  and  recalling  his  own  melancholy  plight  on  the 
same  spot  months  before,  Hugh  stopped  a  moment  to  look 
at  the  immigrants.  With  a  cry  of  surprise  he  recognized  a 
townsman,  and  running  down  brought  joy  to  the  poor  soul. 
The  young  man  had  a  letter  to  Teddy  Donigan,  who  was 
3 


48 


THE  ALIENS. 


a  relative  by  marriage  ;  could  Hugh  show  him  Donigan's 
place  ?  Hugh,  in  the  joy  of  a  kind  turn,  could  and  did. 

It  was  a  fortnight  later  when  Hugh  found  himself  in  a 
condition  to  think.  He  was  in  the  same  confinement  that 
had  brought  him  to  himself  before.  This  time  he  had 
been  thrust  in  durance  for  a  more  serious  offense.  He 
had  half  killed  Teddy  Donigan,  whom  he  accused  of  rob 
bing  him  of  nearly  four  hundred  pounds  sterling.  Teddy 
didn't  die,  and,  as  no  one  appeared  to  prosecute,  Hugh  was 
set  at  liberty.  Then  James  heard  of  him  off  on  the  canal ; 
then  he  had  been  seen  with  a  party  going  to  the  south 
ward  from  the  nearest  lake  port.  Then  all  trace  was  lost. 

Kate  recovered  health,  but  I  doubt  if  her  reason  ever 
resumed  its  clear  play.  So  soon  as  Hugh  had  disappeared 
James  made  Kate  understand  that  he  could  not  keep  such 
a  houseful  about  him.  He  was  willing  to  retain  the  second 
girl,  Agnes,  as  housekeeper,  but  the  rest  must  shift  for 
themselves  ;  useless  to  ask  what  she  was  to  do  in  a  strange 
land,  among  a  stranger  people,  many  of  whom  regarded 
the  Irish  as  a  race  of  helots,  hardly  to  be  trusted  to  hew 
the  wood  and  draw  the  water  that  this  superior  civilization 
made  use  of;  she  was  ignorant  of  their  household  ways, 
their  internal  methods;  useless  to  point  out  the  depend 
ence  of  her  little  boys  and  girls. 

She  pled  all  this,  and  she  pleaded  in  vain.  There  was 
fierce  rancor  in  James  Boyne's  heart.  Hugh  had  been 
the  indulged  darling  of  the  family.  It  was  he  who  was 
favored  of  the  lasses  in  the  dances  and  merry-makings  on 
the  green  and  under  the  hawthorn.  He,  the  elder,  was 
asked  to  fiddle  while  Hugh  whirled  the  girls  in  the  dance. 
It  was  for  Hugh  that  Kate  Claymore  had  rejected  his  own 
long-cherished  love  —  scornfully  he  thought  —  and  the 
memory  rankled  deeper  than  the  prick  of  all  the  thorns  in 
his  lonely  and  loveless  life.  Kate,  too,  was  a  Catholic  of 


THE  DREGS  OF   THE  FLA  CON. 


49 


the  hated  Stuart  line,  and  she  had  turned  Hugh  into  half 
hearted  devotion  to  the  sober  creed  of  the  Boynes. 

She  was  an  evil  breed  of  evil  blood.  Her  great-grand 
father  had  been  driven  from  France  in  '93  for  his  popish 
faith.  Why  should  a  Boyne  stretch  out  his  hand  when  the 
curse  of  Heaven  was  so  plainly  working  vengeance  ?  She 
had  brought  the  hated  creed  into  the  breed  of  the  Cov 
enanters;  and,  now  that  Hugh  had  forsworn  her,  why 
should  he  impoverish  himself  to  stay  the  ruin  that  must 
come  sooner  or  later?  He  was  doing  more  than  most 
kinsmen  in  keeping  the  younger  children  until  they  could 
work  into  homes  of  their  own.  But  deeper  than  all  this 
lay  a  reason  that  James  Boyne  would  hardly  own  to  his 
conscience.  Hugh  was  far  cleverer  in  mind  and  ways. 
He  had  been  rated  a  first-rate  mill-wright  in  Belfast,  and 
if  he  should  return  and  come  under  the  notice  of  Gov 
ernor  Darcy — who  had  spoken  of  him  before  all  the  men 
in  the  mill — how  soon  would  it  be  before  Hugh  leaped 
nto  the  place  of  foreman  over  James's  head  ? 

When  bidden  to  prepare  to  go,  Kate  didn't  in  the  least 
comprehend  that  James  was  serious.  Hugh  would  soon 
come  back  and  provide  a  home. 

Until  then  surely  James  could  not  be  in  earnest  in 
asking  her  to  seek  a  refuge  elsewhere,  without  means  and 
without  power  of  earning  her  bread  ?  She  dimly  suspected 
the  possibility  of  his  rancor,  for  she  had  been  repelled  in 
the  days  of  his  wooing  by  something  sinisterly  selfish  in 
his  somber  moods  and  acrid  criticisms  of  more  favored 
lads,  but  she  did  not  suspect  the  vigor  of  his  prejudices  or 
the  implacability  of  his  hate.  She  could  not  ignore  the 
fact  that  he  had  never  welcomed  her  cordially,  but  he 
couldn't  mean  to  turn  her  out  destitute  while  she  waited 
to  hear  from  her  people  at  home  and  from  the  absent  hus 
band.  Oh,  no,  such  odious  cruelty  could  not  happen  be- 


50  THE  ALIENS. 

tween  kin.  In  this  miserable  uncertainty  a  month  passed. 
One  night,  James,  calling  Kate  aside,  asked  harshly : 

"  When  are  you  going  ? " 

"  Going  where,  James  ?  "  asked  Kate,  not  for  the  mo 
ment  understanding. 

"  To  the  devil,  for  all  I  care,  but  go  you  must  from 
this  house.  To-morrow  I  will  call  in  the  constable  and 
have  your  duds  set  in  the  street.  Now  do  as  you  like.  This 
is  no  poor-house." 

He  was  harsh  as  his  word,  cruel  as  it  was.  The  con 
stable  came  in  promptly  after  the  noon  meal ;  Kate's  be 
longings  were  pointed  out,  and  the  family  impedimenta  set 
on  the  edge  of  the  sidewalk.  The  wretched  mother  sat 
supine,  bewildered,  incapable  of  realizing  her  woful  plight. 
When  the  luggage  had  been  carried  out  to  the  last  box, 
the  constable  touched  Kate  on  the  shoulder  and  pointed 
to  the  open  garden-gate.  She  rose  humbly,  Denny  in  her 
arms,  and,  without  a  word,  walked  firmly  to  a  chest  on 
the  edge  of  the  curb,  where  she  sat  down,  looking  wist 
fully  at  Larry,  who  stood  frightened  and  uncertain  in  the 
doorway.  The  girls,  too  young  to  comprehend,  stood  in 
awe-struck  silence.  Nancy,  the  children's  nurse,  had 
taken  a  place  in  another  family,  and  the  mother  sat  in 
the  street,  homeless,  helpless,  friendless.  Deaf  to  the  re 
proaches  of  his  neighbors,  callous  to  the  spectacle  of  the 
mother's  misery,  the  harsh  kinsman  sat  at  the  window  as 
darkness  fell,  unrelenting.  The  outcasts  would  have 
passed  the  night  in  the  open  air  if  an  indignant  neighbor 
had  not  compassionately  thrown  his  hearth-stone  open  to 
the  mother  and  her  brood. 

Through  the  endeavors  of  this  Samaritan  a  small  house 
was  found,  and  the  landlord  induced  to  postpone  the  rent 
for  a  time,  until  the  mother  could  look  about  her.  Kate 
summoned  fitful  energy.  She  was  a  fair  musician.  She 


THE  DREGS  OF   THE  FLACON.  5! 

had  been  carefully  trained  in  the  Belfast  Latin  School, 
and  was  able  to  teach  ordinary  branches.  In  a  few  weeks 
she  had  a  class  of  children,  and  the  future  seemed  secure 
when,  one  luckless  day,  an  inquisitive  parent,  lingering 
about  the  window,  heard  Kate  expounding  tales  from  Irish 
history  to  the  small  disciples.  To  the  dismay  of  the  mother 
the  Irish  rebellion  was  made  to  appear  the  work  of  patri 
ots,  the  English  were  represented  as  butchers,  robbers,  and 
tyrants,  who  had  pillaged  the  land  for  centuries  !  Heresy 
of  this  sort,  in  a  community  that  boasted  of  the  directness 
of  its  descent  from  the  Englishry,  was  more  than  enough 
to  ruin  Kate's  venture.  The  children  were  at  once  with 
drawn  from  the  school,  and  the  only  resource  left  was  sew 
ing.  Kate  was  an  accomplished  seamstress,  but  no  one 
who  could  afford  sewing  in  the  town  would  consent  to  have 
it  done  by  such  a  heresiarch  as  the  misguided  Irish 
woman  ! 

Then  followed  miserable  months  of  harder  and  harder 
effort.  One  by  one  her  children  were  taken  away  until 
Denny  alone  remained.  The  youngest  child,  in  the  dead 
of  the  long  cruel  winter,  dropped  its  emaciated  body  into 
a  pauper  grave,  unmarked  and  unrecorded. 

The  mother  and  Denny  were  taken  from  the  frozen 
walls,  where  Death  hovered  expectantly,  and  were  carried 
to  the  almshouse.  Kate  was  placed  in  the  rude  hospital, 
where  she  hovered  on  the  verge  of  madness,  until  the  soft 
odors  of  the  lilacs  and  the  fragrance  of  the  May  air  lulled 
the  wild  blood  into  tranquil  enjoyment  of  the  lovely  days 
and  nights  of  spring.  With  restored  mind  began  keen 
solicitude  for  her  children.  Larry,  Mabel,  Agnes,  Norah, 
where  were  they  ?  Dead  ?  No,  she  knew  that  only  the  baby 
Bessy  had  died. 

Even  Denny  was  not  at  her  side  in  her  convalescence. 
He  had  been  placed  in  the  overseer's  family  to  play  with 


52  THE  ALIENS. 

a  little  fellow  of  his  own  age.  For  a  time  they  refused  to 
let  the  child  be  with  his  mother.  It  was  only  when  Kate 
made  plain  her  determination  to  leap  from  the  window 
that  the  boy  was  restored  to  her.  Then  she  began  to  in 
quire  for  the  others,  but  was  met  by  evasive  and  disin 
genuous  answers.  She  listened  with  dreamy,  dilating  eyes 
to  the  stereotyped  phraseology  of  the  guardians  of  the  es 
tablishment,  who  read  to  her  the  transactions  concerning 
the  disposal  of  her  flesh  and  blood.  She  merely  asked  to 
look  at  the  book  when  the  reading  was  finished.  She  made 
a  mental  note  of  the  names  of  the  families  into  which  her 
children  had  been  adopted,  and  thenceforth  spoke  no  more 
of  the  matter. 

Finally,  pronounced  sane  in  mind  and  restored  in  body, 
she  took  Denny  by  the  hand  and  began  the  world  anew, 
simply  equipped  as  Tubal  in  his  quest,  moneyless,  friend 
less,  helpless.  She  found  herself  on  the  highway,  lulled 
by  the  sensuous  summer  sounds,  joyous  in  the  shrill  carols 
of  the  madcap  birds.  One  thought,  haunting,  burning, 
vivid,  sustaining,  lighted  the  dark  recesses  of  hallucination 
that  rose  and  fell  with  her  hopes  and  fears. 

Her  children — her  helpless  darlings  were  the  current 
of  her  thoughts — motherless.  What  were  food  and  drink 
and  raiment  to  them  while  the  mother's  heart  was  not 
beating  near  them  ?  She  would  gather  her  darlings  about 
her  and  make  her  way  over  land  and  sea  to  her  father's 
house,  where  she  had  been  the  indulged,  caressed  darling 
—where,  on  Halloween,  she  had  been  queen  for  all  the 
lads  and  lasses  of  leafy  Dundare.  But  she  must  keep  this 
holy  mission  a  secret.  Even  the  small  Denny  must  not 
know  it,  for  in  his  joy  he  would  blab  it  to  the  birds,  and 
didn't  everybody  know  that  what  the  birds  knew  the  world 
knew  ?  So  the  pathetic  secret  was  locked  in  her  own 
troubled  breast  unutterably,  and  the  fateful  quest  was 


NIOBE. 


53 


begun  in  faith  so  touching,  so  confident,  that  I  am  con 
vinced  of  the  clairvoyance  of  unsettled  intellects,  and  I 
think  it  was  the  dim  perception  of  this  that  gives  to  the 
mad  recognition  as  seers  and  prophets  among  the  more 
searching  intellects  of  the  Oriental  races. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NIOBE. 

OUT  of  the  charnel-house,  and  on  the  highway  to  War- 
chester,  Kate  stopped  to  take  her  bearings.  The  city  lay 
two  miles  distant  over  the  hills.  There  were  some  of  her 
darlings  there.  She  would  see  them  first.  The  resolution 
gave  her  strength.  The  delicious  softness  of  the  green 
sod  made  walking  seem  flying  for  a  time.  The  atmosphere 
was  intoxicating.  The  air  was  a  vision  of  paradise  with 
flitting  butterflies,  darting  wrens,  cooing  doves,  and  piping 
robins.  Her  mind  was  far  away.  She  saw  the  white  blos 
soms  of  her  father's  hawthorns  ;  she  heard  the  lark  over 
the  primrose  spring ;  she  saw  the  stalwart  lover  leaping 
the  hedges  that  separated  the  farms  ;  she  saw  herself  a 
wife  at  sixteen — at  twenty-six  a  widow,  or  worse.  Before 
she  reached  the  city  limits  her  strength  failed  her.  She 
was  forced  to  sit  down  and  rest ;  but  the  longer  she  sat 
the  more  incapable  she  felt  of  resuming  her  journey.  A 
farmer  driving  city-ward  stopped  to  ask  a  question.  Den 
ny  ran  in  alarm  to  his  mother.  She  answered  faintly  that 
she  didn't  know,  and  her  voice  prompted  the  man  to  in 
vite  her  to  get  up  in  the  wagon.  He  kindly  aided  her  to 
mount,  and  made  a  reclining  place  for  her  on  bags  of  oats 


54 


THE  ALIENS. 


he  was  taking  to  mill.  He  stopped  within  a  few  squares 
of  James's  house.  Larry,  who  was  playing  in  the  garden, 
recognized  his  mother  before  she  opened  the  gate.  Run 
ning  toward  her  he  closed  it,  and,  standing  on  the  inside, 
said,  in  an  eager,  shamefaced  way : 

"  Uncle  says  you're  not  to  be  let  in.  That  if  you  come 
about  here  he  will  turn  me  away  !  " 

Kate  looked  at  her  son  in  a  coaxing,  yearning  incre 
dulity.  She  had  to  bend  down  to  catch  his  eye  through 
the  slats,  and  the  boy  started  back  as  if  she  were  about  to 
seize  him.  But  she  was  only  looking  at  the  little  ingrate, 
and  whispering  to  herself,  "  Larry,  Larry " — she  had 
dropped  on  her  knees  outside  the  fence — "  Larry,  do  you 
know  me  ?  I'm  your  mother,  child.  I — I — O  my  God, 
my  God,  my  God — I'm  mad  !  " 

Denny  at  this  began  to  sob  in  quick  gasps.  That  re 
stored  her  in  an  instant.  Soothing  him  in  her  arms,  and 
rocking  back  and  forth,  she,  relapsed  into  silence.  Larry 
skurried  off  sidewise  toward  the  house,  now  and  then  cast 
ing  back  an  eye  to  see  if  the  interdicted  mother  were  fol 
lowing.  But  the  dark  group  remained  discernible  through 
the  slats  until  he  had  summoned  the  inmates  of  the  house 
to  testify  to  his  obedience  to  his  uncle's  orders.  Hours 
passed,  and  the  mournful  mother  held  the  post  by  the 
gate.  People  passing  thought  the  poor  woman  resting. 
James  Boyne  presently  came  along,  and  was  quite  upon 
the  crouching  figures  before  he  noticed  them.  He  started, 
but,  recognizing  the  mother  and  child,  harshly  bade  the 
woman  get  up  and  begone. 

She  arose  slowly,  helping  herself  by  the  slats,  hugged 
the  little  Denny  to  her  breast,  and,  without  a  word,  stepped 
firmly  away,  looking  straight  before  her.  That  night  she 
slept  on  the  common,  near  the  river,  and  in  the  morning 
bathed  the  child  in  the  limpid  stream.  Water-cresses 


NIOBE.  55 

grew  plentifully  at  the  edge  of  the  merry  brook.  These 
she  picked,  and,  washing  them  in  the  water,  ate  and  gave 
to  Denny.  But  the  child  could  not  eat  them,  and  she  cast 
about  for  something  more  nutritious.  A  lad  came  along 
singing,  with  a  steaming  pail  of  milk,  the  fluffy  foam  drip 
ping  over  its  edges.  Denny  eyed  it  hungrily.  Kate  felt 
in  her  ears,  on  her  breast :  for  the  first  time  she  seemed 
to  miss  her  simple  jewelry,  which  had  gone  months  before. 
She  looked  longingly  at  the  milk,  then  at  her  wedding- 
ring.  Slipping  it  off  she  held  it  up  to  the  boy,  saying, 
hoarsely : 

"  Give  my  little  boy  some  of  your  milk,  there's  a  dar 
ling.  I  have  no  money,  but  you  can  get  what  the  milk's 
worth  from  this  and  give  me  the  rest." 

"  Oh,  pshaw  !  I  don't  want  your  ring,  missis.  I  guess 
you  can  have  all  the  milk  that  cub'll  drink.  Here,  fire 
away,  buster,"  and,  relishing  his  facetious  readiness  of 
wit,  the  youth  held  the  pail  to  Denny's  frankly  longing 
lips. 

"  Have  some  ? "  he  said,  proffering  the  pail  to  the 
mother,  as  the  child's  small  need  was  supplied.  Kate 
looked  longingly  at  the  milk,  then  at  the  boy,  and  shook 
her  head. 

"  Just  as  well  have  a  swig  as  not.  Milk  ain't  much  ac 
count  now;  every  one  has  a  cow,  and  no  one  buys." 

Kate  allowed  herself  to  be  persuaded  by  this  specious 
reasoning,  but  suspected  that  he  was  giving  them  the  milk 
through  pity.  He  went  off  whistling  cheerily,  and  Denny, 
enlivened  by  the  example,  began  to  run  in  chase  of  a 
swarm  of  yellow  butterflies.  Near  noon  Kate  made  her 
way  again  toward  the  house  of  her  kinsman.  Instead  of 
going  to  the  front  gate  this  time,  however,  she  put  Denny 
over  the  fence  and  clambered  over  after  him,  near  the 
house.  She  opened  the  door  and  walked  into  the  living- 


56  THE  ALIENS. 

room.  A  strange  young  woman,  engaged  in  some  house 
hold  service,  started  up  with  a  scream. 

"Where  is  Agnes?  " 

"  Lord,  ma'am,  she's  not  been  here  for  many  a  day." 

"  Where  is  she  ? " 

"  I  can't  justly  say,  but  I  think  it  is  in  Holly  Hill,  a 
great  house  near  the  river." 

"And  who  are  you  ?" 

"  I  am  James  Boyne's  wife  ;  we  were  married  in  April," 
said  the  young  woman,  suspiciously,  beginning  to  compre 
hend  who  her  interlocutor  was.  With  this  evidence  of 
recognition  Kate  turned,  quit  the  room,  and  went  in 
search  of  Larry.  She  was  tired  and  Denny  was  heavy. 
She  set  him  down  on  the  door-step  and  called  her  elder 
son.  She  went  in  search  of  him  about  the  neighborhood, 
but  the  boy  was  not  to  be  seen.  Returning  to  the  steps 
to  get  Denny,  she  saw  her  brother-in-law,  James,  hurrying 
up  the  path  and  into  the  house.  She  hastened  her  step  to 
get  the  child,  when  suddenly  her  kinsman  appeared  in  the 
doorway  with  a  heavy  double-barreled  rifle  in  his  hand. 

"  Now,  you  crazy  devil,  if  you  don't  get  out  of  this, 
and  keep  out,  I  will  shoot  you  down  like  a  dog." 

He  raised  the  piece  to  his  shoulder  and  pointed  it  over 
the  head  of  the  child,  which  sat  between  them  on  the  steps, 
at  the  mother  advancing  in  the  walk.  She  never  made  a 
cry,  but  with  her  eyes  wide  open,  shining  with  the  gleam 
of  madness,  she  advanced  to  the  very  muzzle  of  tho  gun, 
stooped  and  picked  up  the  child,  and  then,  with  a  wild 
cry,  fled,  fled,  fled,  until  she  fell  lifeless  under  the  very 
feet  of  a  horse  driven  by  the  doctor  who  had  attended 
her  in  her  first  attack. 

Then  the  tragedy  deepened.  The  miserable  mother 
was  found  irreclaimably  insane.  She  was  separated  from 
her  boy  and  confined  in  an  asylum.  The  child  was  sent 


NIOBE. 


57 


to  the  Home  for  Homeless  Boys.  In  the  asylum  the 
mother  was  ironed,  to  keep  her  amenable  to  the  regula 
tions.  She  was  perfectly  quiet  save  when  the  officious 
agents  of  the  institution  willfully  plagued  her  with  tales  of 
the  death  of  her  children.  Then  she  broke  into  fury,  and 
the  tortures  invented  by  the  crude  science  of  that  time  to 
allay  the  afflictions  of  the  mind  were  applied  with  remorse 
less  vigor,  the  agents  apparently  delighting  in  the  experi 
ence  and  practice  their  malignancy  secured  them. 

It  was  fully  a  year  later  when  Kate,  more  Madonna- 
like  than  the  day  she  stepped  out  at  the  Rialto,  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  convalescent  chamber.  Here  all  the  cun 
ning  of  insanity  came  to  her  aid,  and  one  morning  she 
was  gone  when  the  doctor  came  to  make  an  examination. 
How  she  ever  learned  the  whereabouts  of  the  boy  no  one 
knew ;  but  one  afternoon  Denny,  walking  with  his  little 
fellows  in  the  street,  saw  his  mother  beckoning  him  from 
the  covert  of  a  rose-bush.  He  ran  to  her,  the  guardians 
in  full  chase  after  him.  They  were  separated,  the  mother 
following  the  child  with  moans  of  anguish  to  the  Home 
door.  Poor  thing,  perfectly  ignorant  as  to  forms,  regula 
tions,  and  the  laws  of  the  Home,  she  hadn't  the  remotest 
idea  how  the  child  could  be  obtained,  seen,  or  communi 
cated  with.  But  she  resolved  doggedly  not  to  quit  the 
place  so  long  as  he  was  there. 

How  she  ate  and  slept  an  all-knowing  Power  alone 
can  tell.  Denny  saw  her  from  his  dormer-window  one 
morning,  standing  under  a  leafy  maple,  before  the  sun 
was  up,  gazing  wistfully  toward  his  prison.  He  slipped 
out  as  the  scullions  were  cleaning  the  kitchen  utensils, 
and,  crawling  into  an  empty  barrel  in  the  grocer's  cart, 
was  jolted  out  into  the  lane  behind  the  brick  walls.  The 
driver  stopping  to  fasten  the  gate,  the  child  leaped  out 
and  ran  to  his  mother,  whom  he  felt  sure  of  finding  under 


58  THE  ALIENS. 

the  trees.  Sure  enough  she  was  waiting,  and  there  was 
no  surprise  in  her  joy  at  seeing  him.  In  her  school  she 
had  shown  the  girls  how  to  make  Irish  lace — in  which  she 
was  deft  and  nimble.  Whenever  she  could  submit  to  re 
straint,  she  was  welcomed  in  rich  farm-houses  to  teach  the 
girls  and  work  on  these  coveted  housewife  fabrics.  But 
the  longing  for  her  children,  and  the  sleepless  suspicion  of 
the  stranger  drove  her  forth  at  the  end  of  a  few  weeks, 
leaving  no  token  with  her  wondering  hosts  to  account  for 
her  flight. 

Wrapping  her  darling  Denny  under  her  shawl,  she  fled 
to  the  open  fields.  How  she  supported  life  during  these 
vague  intervals  of  time  was  never  known.  She  was  found 
always  where  the  farm-lands  sloped  into  green  dells  with 
running  water.  Here  she  seemed  absolutely  without  care. 
Decking  Denny  with  the  flowers  of  the  hedges,  she  sat 
by  the  water-side  for  hours,  the  child  playing  contentedly 
with  the  pebbles,  the  frogs,  or  any  animate  thing  or  inan 
imate  thing  ;  for  birds  or  beasts,  kine  or  whatsoever  living 
thing  came  to  know  these  woful  intruders,  had  no  fear 
of  them.  Kate's  wavering  sanity  had  become  a  subtle 
power.  She  knew  she  was  not  in  her  sane  senses ;  she 
doggedly  refused  to  think,  lest  she  should  lose  the  only 
weapon  left  the  bereaved — cunning.  With  infinite  adroit 
ness  she  fabricated  reasons  to  the  not  over-inquisitive 
world  she  encountered  in  her  rambles.  But  this  nomad 
life  covered  an  inextinguishable  purpose.  She  would  keep 
on  wandering  through  the  pleasant  country  roads,  sleep 
ing  in  the  hay-fields,  and  lurking  where  the  berries  grew 
or  accept  hospitable  proffers  in  the  farm-houses,  until  she 
had  gathered  all  her  lost  brood. 

One  sunny  morning,  when  the  birds  seemed  mad  with 
joy  and  the  wheat  stood  sheaved  in  tasseled  cones  through 
the  fields,  Kate,  turning  out  of  the  high-road,  came  upon 


NIOBE. 


59 


a  gate  leading  to  an  affluent  farm-house.  Children  came 
down  the  lane  shouting  at  the  cows,  as  the  tramp  leaned 
wearily  against  the  fence.  She  inquired  the  name  of  the 
owners,  and,  on  hearing  "  Dr.  Marbury,"  she  set  Denny 
on  the  ground  and  led  him  by  the  hand,  flying  with  eager 
steps  toward  the  comfortable  porch.  As  she  passed  from 
the  small  gate  up  the  path,  a  little  girl,  perhaps  nine  years 
old,  came  out  of  the  rear  door,  going  toward  a  small  stone 
building  between  the  house  and  the  lane.  Kate  gave  a 
great  sobbing  cry  when  she  saw  the  child.  She  was  carry 
ing  a  large  wooden  dish  with  a  gleaming  pat  of  butter  in 
the  center.  Startled  by  the  cry,  she  turned,  and,  catching 
sight  of  the  wild,  strange  figure,  halted  and  let  the  dish 
fall  to  the  ground. 

"  O  Norah — Norah — my  darling  !  Come  to  me,  No- 
rah  !  It's  your  mother  !  " 

For  an  instant  the  child's  eyes  dilated  in  wonder,  and 
then  lighted  in  gladness,  as  she  saw  Denny  smiling  at  her. 

She  flung  herself,  sobbing,  into  the  mother's  arms.  It 
was  in  this  tender  plight  a  tall,  severely  prim  matron  pres 
ently,  coming  hastily  from  the  house,  discovered  them. 
Norah  timorously  explained  that  it  was  her  mother,  and 
the  wanderers  were  kindly  taken  in,  bathed,  and  fed,  and 
a  family  council  was  held  as  to  the  future  of  the  mother. 
But  in  proportion  as  the  solicitude  of  the  good  family  in 
creased,  the  terror  of  the  mad  woman  grew.  In  spite  of 
all  urging  to  remain  until  something  could  be  devised, 
Kate  quit  the  house  the  following  morning  before  the 
Doctor  had  returned  from  consulting  a  neighbor  in  her 
behalf.  She  fled  down  the  lane,  and,  coming  to  the  utter 
most  verge  of  the  Marbury  estate,  halted,  stripped  her 
body  of  a  new  gown  forced  upon  her  by  Norah's  kind 
patron,  threw  it  far  over  into  the  masses  of  still  uncut 
wheat,  and,  resuming  her  frayed  gown,  took  up  her  march 


60  THE  ALIENS, 

to  find  her  other  children.  She  believed,  in  a  wild,  un 
reasoning  way  that  the  Doctor  had  bewitched  Norah,  as 
the  child  broke  into  wild  sobs  when  the  crazed  mother 
urged  her  to  fly  and  live  the  nomad  life  of  herself  and 
Denny.  The  gown,  she  felt,  desecrated  her.  What  she 
meant  to  do  when  she  had  gained  knowledge  of  all  their 
whereabouts,  Denny  never  knew.  She  confided  most  of 
her  mad  projects  to  her  little  confidant ;  but  when  in  later 
years  he  strove  to  recall  her  purpose,  he  found  that  she 
had  no  definite  plan. 

Before  the  gold-dust  of  autumn  had  powdered  the 
green  tresses  of  summer,  Kate's  quest  brought  her  to  her 
youngest  daughter  but  one,  Agnes.  She  was  but  five  when 
the  family  was  broken  up,  and  her  uncle  James  had  given 
her  in  adoption  to  one  of  the  great  families  of  War- 
chester.  She  lived  at  first  as  a  dependent,  then  as  a 
daughter  of  the  house.  Her  family  name  was  dropped  ; 
indeed,  it  is  doubtful  if  her  new  family  knew  it,  and  the 
little  Agnes  had  but  the  vaguest  recollection  of  any  other 
than  the  luxurious  life  in  which  she  was  now  growing.  It 
was  on  the  edge  of  Warchester  that  Kate  came  upon  a 
group  of  children  in  a  merry  picnic.  Agnes  was  among 
them,  and  the  mother,  with  a  delirious  cry,  rushed  at  her 
and  clasped  the  little  one  to  her  heart.  But  the  child 
struggled  and  screamed.  The  governess  haughtily  waved 
the  mother  back,  and  threatened  to  send  for  help  if  she 
did  not  go  away.  Agnes  looked  at  her  mother  with  cold, 
unrecognizing  eyes. 

Whether  she  recalled  her  or  not,  I  can't  say.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  she  dimly  remembered  the  past.  Images 
fade  in  some  young  minds  completely,  while  others  re 
tain  infantile  pictures  to  old  age.  The  wretched  mother 
brought  back,  if  she  recalled  the  kinship  at  all,  misery, 
unrest,  and  squalor.  But  to  the  mother  there  was  only 


NIOBE.  6 1 

one  hideous  reality,  that  drove  the  blood  back  to  her 
heart  and  threw  a  blinding  mist  into  the  feeble  processes 
of  her  brain.  Her  child — her  darling,  brought  to  a  child's 
most  lovely  age  in  sore  travail — refused  her ;  refused  a 
mother  burdened  with  cruel  woes  and  undeserved  misfort 
unes.  Ah,  it  was  too  much.  God  was  not  good.  He 
should  have  spared  her  this  bitter,  bitter  bruise. 

Denny  never  knew  distinctly  what  the  fortunes  of  his 
mother  were  during  the  days  and  months  that  followed 
this  miserable  scene.  He  recalled  in  after  days  that  she 
seemed  to  fade  fitfully  out  of  his  troubled  life,  and  that 
he  was  very  unhappy  in  a  great  red  brick  farm-house 
where  noisy  overgrown  boys  and  coarse  girls  beat  him  and 
reviled  him.  The  elders  were  morose  and  stern.  Then 
he  recalled  the  slow  growth  of  a  terrible  resolution, 
and  the  infantile  art  with  which  it  was  carried  into  ex 
ecution — to  run  away  and  find  his  mother,  who  was 
always  present  to  the  sight  of  his  mind,  hovering  by 
running  water  or  weaving  nosegays  under  the  wild  crab- 
apples. 

He  fled  back  to  the  mad-house,  where  something  told 
him  he  should  find  the  lost  mother.  He  never  afterward 
forgot  the  wasted  face  of  the  mad  woman  he  found  cower 
ing  in  one  of  the  maniac  wards.  Her  lustrous  auburn  hair 
had  faded  to  a  subdued  dead-gold  hue  ;  the  large  eyes 
were  still  clear  and  most  wonderful — untroubled.  She  was 
thirty  now — a  vision  as  fair  in  maturity  as  she  must  have 
been  when  as  a  maid  she  stood  before  the  altar.  The 
little  boy  fled  to  her  with  rapture,  and  the  attendants,  who 
had  before  found  her  irritable  and  unmanageable,  were 
astonished  at  the  transformation  wrought  by  the  child's 
presence.  The  paroxysm  of  tears  seemed  to  clear  the 
confusion  of  the  brain.  The  mad  woman  met  the  officials 
as  tranquilly  thereafter  as  though  her  brain  had  never 


62  THE  ALIENS. 

been  touched.  Again  she  was  enlarged  from  durance ; 
again  the  old  nomad  life  began.  But  the  end  was  near. 
The  craving  to  see  her  children  drove  her  in  quest  of 
Mabel,  the  elder  of  the  three  girls.  She  found  her  at  last, 
after  such  persistency  as  would  have  disheartened  a  Hin 
doo  devotee. 

When  Uncle  James  married  he  had  put  away  the  last 
of  the  "  tribe,"  as  he  said  grimly  to  his  wife.  One  of  the 
rich  mill-owners  had  lost  a  girl  about  Mabel's  age,  and, 
seeing  the  child  one  day  bringing  James  Boyne's  dinner 
to  the  mill,  he  had  taken  a  strong  liking  for  her,  and  in  the 
end  asked  the  kinsman  to  give  her  to  him  in  adoption. 
He  was  a  man  of  strong  prejudices,  holding  the  Irish  in 
the  loathing  and  hatred  he  had  learned  in  his  childhood, 
in  Londonderry,  where  once  a  year  the  alien  English  cele 
brate  the  conquest  of  the  hated  Celts.  Mabel  was  taught 
to  detest  anything  bearing  the  Irish  name,  and  warned 
that  the  recognition  of  any  tie  with  her  kin  would  end  in 
her  expulsion  from  a  home  of  plenty.  She  shared  the 
education  of  the  sons  of  the  house,  and  was  in  all  respects 
treated  like  one  of  them.  As  she  was  returning  joyously 
one  day  from  the  fashionable  select  school  in  Warchester, 
Kate  saw  and  recognized  her  lost  darling,  her  first-born. 
With  a  great  cry  of  thanksgiving  and  rapture,  she  flung 
herself  on  the  startled  girl. 

"  My  Mabel,  my  darling — " 

But  the  mother's  rapture  was  not  returned.  The  girl, 
large  for  her  age — she  was  nearly  fourteen — disengaged  the 
clinging  arms,  uttering  a  little  shuddering  cry  the  while, 
drew  herself  back,  blushing  crimson  as  her  girl  friends 
looked  on  in  astonishment.  Denny  toddled  up  to  her  and 
caught  her  hand.  She  pushed  both  mother  and  child 
from  her  with  the  air  of  a  person  who  has  been  mistaken 
for  another. 


NIOBE.  63 

"  Why,  Mab,  who  is  it  ?  "  exclaimed  her  friends.  "  Any 
one  you  know  ?  " 

The  girl  looked  resolutely  into  the  face  of  the  other, 
half  laughed  as  she  said  : 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  crazy  woman  I  used  to  know  when  I  was 
a  little  girl." 

"  Poor  thing !  perhaps  she's  hungry  ;  let  us  give  her 
some  pennies." 

A  small  sum  was  made  up,  Mabel  adding  a  few  coins, 
and  the  kind  little  maiden  who  had  proposed  the  gift 
handed  it  to  the  dazed  figure  that  had  shrunk  back 
against  a  timely  tree. 

"  Here,  poor  woman,  buy  your  little  boy  bread  to  eat," 
and  the  girl  held  out  her  hand  timidly  with  the  pieces  of 
silver  glistening  on  the  pink  palm.  But  Kate,  with  her 
yearning  gaze  fastened  upon  her  daughter,  took  no  heed 
of  the  child's  well-meant  dole.  The  girl  laid  the  money 
at  Denny's  feet,  and  ran  after  her  comrades  in  fright.  The 
pretty  group  passed  on.  Mabel  was  the  only  one  that 
didn't  turn  her  head  to  take  account  of  the  staring,  mis 
erable  mother,  transfixed  as  Niobe  in  the  dispersion  of  her 
children. 

A  few  months  afterward  the  sad,  sad  drama  came  to 
its  natural  end.  Kate  left  the  mad-house  again.  This 
time  forever.  A  coarse  box  of  pine  held  the  supple  figure, 
a  common  cotton  sheet  covered  the  wondrous  beauty, 
supernaturally  emphasized  by  the  years  of  mental  coma 
before  the  soul  joined  the  mind  in  flight  from  the  body. 

She  was  laid  without  comment  or  proclamation  in  the 
flat  lowlands  that  mark  the  lowly  from  the  favored  dead 
in  the  lovely  cemetery  of  Warchester.  Possibly  harder 
clods  fell  on  the  coffin  ;  possibly  humbler  agencies  of  decay 
invaded  the  cerements.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  grass  grew 
green  and  tender  over  the  low  mound  ;  the  blossoms  from 


64  THE  ALIENS. 

the  neighboring  shrubberies  drifted  over  her ;  the  royal 
robin,  and  the  whole  train  of  warblers,  not  knowing  that 
it  was  a  pauper  spot,  sang  all  the  day  in  the  branches,  and 
poured  forth  ineffable  requiems  as  the  night  fell,  and  gen 
tle  and  simple  were  reduced  to  common  colors  and  shapes ; 
on  the  greensward  the  moon  poured  down  beams  quite  as 
impartial  of  the  silver  that  fell  on  the  lowly  as  on  the  rich ; 
the  sun  shone  as  warmly  as  if  the  grave  had  been  among 
"  the  storied  urns  and  animated  busts  "  of  the  consecrated 
spot  beyond,  where  the  more  fortunate  permitted  their 
clay  to  mingle  with  the  soil,  no  more  refined  than  that  in 
which  the  Alien  moldered. 

Perhaps,  too,  in  that  other  company  beyond  the  grave, 
beyond  the  woes  and  wrongs  of  the  world,  the  outcast  from 
her  kin  and  kind  found  the  grace,  mercy,  and  peace  man 
denied  her;  perhaps  in  the  heart  of  a  juster,  tenderer  kin 
beyond  the  grave  she  found  the  indulgence  of  a  father,  the 
benignance  of  a  God  ! 

It  was  with  considerable  difficulty  that,  a  year  later, 
Marcus  Dunn  found  the  mound  of  the  woman  whose 
beauty  had  filled  him  with  such  strange  unrest.  It  lay 
deep  in  a  hollow,  where  the  mighty  hill  rose  in  almost  pre 
cipitous  plateaus  cloudward.  A  peaceful  brook  babbled 
by,  but  no  name  was  on  the  unsodded  mound  when  Mar 
cus  identified  it,  after  long  questioning  the  sexton.  Pres 
ently  an  iron  rail  inclosed  the  place  ;  a  stone  slab  containing 
a  brief  memorial  of  the  victim's  life  was  reared  at  the  head, 
and  the  world  might  read  that  Kate  Boyne  slept  beneath. 
Years  later,  when  the  fashion  of  the  city  coveted  this  lovely 
dell,  the  authorities  gladly  relinquished  the  "God's  acre"  to 
become  the  sepulcher  of  the  rich.  The  desecrating  graves 
were  all  dug  out ;  monuments  there  were  none,  save  on 
this  one,  where  the  babbling  water  seemed  to  creep  more 
familiarly  and  murmur  more  tenderly.  A  workman,  re- 


A    VILLAGE  HAMPDEN.  65 

moving  the  slab,  threw  it  against  an  iron  bar.  It  broke, 
and  revealed  the  story  of  the  Alien  mother's  life  and  death 
as  I  have  herein  sketched  it.  Marcus  Dunn  made  inquiry 
for  the  little  Denny,  whom  the  mother  loved ;  but  he  got 
only  vague  answers.  The  family  was  dispersed  over  the 
land.  The  father  had  never  been  heard  from  since  his 
flight ;  the  uncle,  James  Boyne,  was  dead  or  had  moved 
elsewhere. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A    VILLAGE    HAMPDEN. 

HAD  Denny  been  the  son  of  affluence,  the  course  of 
his  life  thereafter  would  have  needed  no  commentary,  nor 
made  an  instructive  tale  in  the  telling.  His  inheritance 
was  bitterer  even  than  the  penury  his  young  mind  could 
not  understand.  Given  house,  not  home,  with  his  harsh 
kinsman  Uncle  James,  he  soon  learned  the  misery  of  de 
pendence  where  there  is  no  fraternal  instinct,  no  common 
bond.  Larry  had  been  unruly,  and  sternly  turned  over 
to  a  distant  farmer,  known  for  his  decisive  training  of 
vicious  boys.  Denny,  his  uncle  told  him  ungraciously, 
could  find  a  home  with  him  as  long  as  he  conducted  him 
self  Avell.  A  lad  of  Denny's  years  is  not  apt  to  regard 
admonition  so  little  definite  as  this  with  much  attention, 
and  Denny  was  never  quite  sure  what  behavior  was  un 
holy  in  his  kinsman's  eyes. 

He  soon  learned  that  whatever  he  did,  his  aunt  found 
him  a  troublesome  boy,  of  no  sort  of  use  in  the  house. 
Hence,  he  was  generally  kept  outside  the  door,  while  this 
disciplinarian  was  alone,  or  if  admitted,  only  to  do  the 


66  THE  ALIENS. 

menial  labors  of  the  day.  Rendered  reckless  by  the  lack 
of  sympathy  between  himself  and  the  household,  Denny 
formed  fierce  attachments  with  the  neighboring  boys, 
whose  pranks  were  indignantly  denounced  by  Aunt  Betty. 
When  the  wickedness  was  laid  before  Uncle  James,  that 
Spartan  remonstrated  with  the  child  with  links  of  clothes 
line  on  his  wretched  little  body,  early  in  the  morning,  be 
fore  the  child  was  out  of  bed.  These  flagellations  finally 
became  so  regular  that  the  neighbors  remonstrated,  and 
the  uncle  then  savagely  bade  the  boy  seek  a  home  else 
where.  The  child,  vaguely  troubled  by  the  new  misfort 
une,  quit  the  house  in  broad  day — Aunt  Betty  resolutely 
locking  the  door  to  show  that  she  looked  on  the  going  as 
final. 

Whether  misfortune  sharpens  the  wits  at  the  expense 
of  the  sensibilities,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  ;  but  that 
vicissitudes  make  the  intellect  retentive,  the  surprising 
vividness  of  Denny's  recollections  of  these  wretched 
scenes  long  afterward  is  proof.  Confiding  his  hopes  to  a 
friend,  that  misfortune  made  and  that  death  alone  could 
deprive  him  of,  Denny  himself  presents  these  fateful  epochs 
in  his  life. 

"  When  the  box  with  my  mother's  body  in  it  was  put 
in  the  ground,  I  could  not  understand  that  I  wasn't  to 
go  in  with  her.  The  men  that  had  lifted  the  box  and 
lowered  it  into  the  grave  caught  me  roughly,  and  called 
to  the  sexton  at  the  gate.  I  was  carried  away ;  I  didn't 
know  where,  for,  as  I  struggled  in  a  wild  passion  with  the 
man  who  held  me,  some  one  struck  me  a  stunning  blow  on 
the  back  of  the  head.  When  I  came  to  my  wits  again,  I 
was  in  my  Uncle  James's  kitchen.  Aunt  Betty,  his  wife, 
was  mixing  batter.  I  was  on  a  low  cot  under  the  win 
dow,  and  watched  her  a  long  time  before  she  saw  that  I 
was  awake ;  for  I  supposed  I  had  been  asleep. 


A    VILLAGE  H AMP  DEN.  67 

"  She  was  a  stout,  good-natured  looking  woman,  with 
a  very  red  face,  and  small,  dullish  blue  eyes.  She  spoke 
kindly  to  me  when  she  saw  I  was  looking  at  her,  and  asked 
if  I  was  hungry.  She  gave  me  some  bread  with  dark 
molasses  on  it,  and,  all  recollection  of  the  grave  having 
gone,  I  ate  with  great  satisfaction.  Then  I  suddenly  saw 
the  graveyard,  with  the  red  wet  clay  in  great  gashes  seam 
ing  the  green  turf,  and  I  began  to  cry  bitterly.  Aunt 
Betty  grew  angry  at  this,  saying  that  a  boy  that  was  so 
lucky  as  to  have  an  uncle  to  take  him  in  and  give  him  a 
home  ought  to  be  thankful  and  happy.  But  as  the  face  of 
the  dead  came  to  me,  more  and  more  clearly,  I  hated 
Aunt  Betty,  and  broke  into  louder  sobs ;  so  that,  as  I 
couldn't  control  myself,  I  jumped  up,  and,  running  from 
the  kitchen,  made  my  way  to  the  bedroom,  and,  crawling 
under  the  bed,  sobbed  myself  to  sleep. 

"  How  long  I  lay  there,  I  couldn't  tell  when  I  awoke. 
The  place  was  dark.  I  couldn't  for  a  good  while  recol 
lect  where  I  was,  quite  sure  that  I  was  dead,  and  that  I 
should  see  my  mother.  Voices  presently  sounded  in  the 
next  room,  and  I  heard  my  own  name.  Then  I  knew 
where  I  was.  I  crawled  out  of  the  place,  and  sneaked 
into  the  light.  My  aunt  uttered  a  little  shriek  when  she 
saw  me,  and  my  uncle  turned  on  me  with  a  frown.  He 
was  a  man  of  stem,  unsmiling  face  at  all  times,  but  now 
he  seemed  to  have  that  dry,  soapy  look  one  associates 
with  marble  figures.  He  looked  over  me  instead  of  at  me, 
as  he  sternly  reminded  me  of  my  wickedness  to  my  aunt. 
I  was  to  have  a  home  with  him  so  long  as  I  behaved  my 
self;  but  if  I  did  not,  what  had  happened  to  Larry  would 
happen  to  me.  Larry,  I  afterward  learned,  had  been 
unruly  to  Aunt  Betty,  and  had  been  articled  to  a  farmer, 
noted  for  his  way  of  managing  headstrong  boys.  At  nine 
years  one  is  not  apt  to  define  terms  such  as  my  uncle 


68  THE  ALIENS. 

used  very  precisely,  and  I  know  I  was  a  great  deal  puz 
zled  to  imagine  what  would  be  considered  good  or  bad. 

"  I  came  to  comprehend  later  that  boyish  goodness  or 
badness  bears  the  same  comparative  relation  that  every 
abstract  thing  does.  In  those  days  coal  was  not  much 
used  in  Warchester,  and  I  learned  that  one  form  of  bad 
ness  was  neglect  to  keep  the  kitchen  wood-box  supplied 
with  fuel  seven  days  in  the  week.  Aunt  Betty  having  no 
maid-servant,  I  learned  that  goodness  meant  relieving  her 
stout  limbs  of  all  the  work  usually  done  by  a  servant.  Of 
my  uncle  I  never  knew  much.  I  held  him  in  such  terror 
that,  if  he  let  his  eye  rest  on  me  at  the  table,  I  nearly 
choked  with  fright.  I  don't  know  whether  the  life  I  had 
led  with  my  mother  in  the  fields,  or  a  native  tendency  led 
to  it,  but  I  was  fond  of  wandering,  and  whenever  I  could 
slip  away  I  trudged  off  where  the  trees  grew  and  the 
brooks  wandered  pleasantly  over  the  shining  stones. 

"  These  expeditions  sometimes  led  to  angry  outbreaks 
from  Aunt  Betty,  who  from  a  luxury  soon  came  to  regard 
my  contributions  to  the  kitchen  work  as  a  necessity.  Often 
when  I  had  been  off  for  an  afternoon,  on  getting  home  I 
would  find  the  table  standing  from  dinner — no  fire  in  the 
stove,  and  Aunt  Betty  in  bed.  This  happened  a  great 
many  times,  and  occasioned  quarrels  between  the  husband 
and  wife. 

"  At  last  the  quarrel  involved  me.  Aunt  Betty  com 
plained  that  she  was  deprived  of  the  help  of  one  of  her 
nieces  because  I  was  kept  in  the  house ;  that  I  was  an 
idle  little  brat  and  no  use  to  anybody,  'as  odd  in  his 
ways/  she  added,  'as  that  crazy  jade,  his  mother.'  My 
uncle  said  nothing  further,  but  the  next  day,  at  noon,  find 
ing  me  alone  in  the  garden,  he  reminded  me  of  my  aunt's 
complaint ;  cautioned  me  to  do  the  work  and  save  her 
every  step  I  could,  or  he  would  have  to  send  me  off  on  a 


A    VILLAGE  H AMP  DEN. 


69 


farm  and  get  one  of  Aunt  Betty's  nieces.  I  did  not  an 
swer,  but  I  did  for  a  time  strive  to  save  her  all  the  work  I 
could. 

"  The  worst  of  it  was  that  Aunt  Betty,  whose  father 
was  agent  for  a  wholesale  liquor-store,  began  to  drink  a 
good  deal.  She  began  it  in  a  curious  way.  When  the 
church  fairs  were  starting,  she  had  many  church  women 
in  the  house  sewing.  They  drank  a  good  deal  of  tea,  but 
I  noticed  that  when  I  came  to  wash  the  pot  for  supper 
there  never  were  any  leaves  in  it.  I  soon  discovered  that 
it  was  only  hot  water,  sugar,  and  some  liquid  from  a  keg 
in  the  cellar  that  they  drank. 

"  After  a  while  Aunt  Betty  used  to  sit  by  herself  and 
sip  this  stuff.  At  first  she  was  very  merry,  and  joked  and 
petted  me,  even  giving  me  money,  and  telling  me  that 
when  uncle  and  she  died  the  place  should  be  mine.  After 
a  time  the  drinking  didn't  make  Aunt  Betty  merry.  She 
became  fretful,  and  scolded  me  on  the  slightest  cause.  I 
never  was  more  miserable  than  during  this  year.  I  could 
not  go  to  school,  as  I  had  been  doing,  because  Aunt  Bet 
ty's  drinking  brought  on  illness,  and  I  had  to  do  all  the 
work  of  the  house. 

"  This  went  on  perhaps  a  year,  when  Aunt  Betty  in 
sisted  on  having  her  niece,  as  she  couldn't  get  the  wash 
done  to  suit  her.  When  the  niece  came  my  miseries  in 
creased.  She  was  a  snub-nosed,  red-haired  girl  of  four 
teen  or  fifteen,  very  stout  and  big  for  her  age.  She  began 
to  persecute  me  from  the  first,  and  I  could  see  by  my 
aunt's  manner  that  she  was  making  ground  against  me. 
One  day,  after  I  had  been  off  to  the  woods,  Meg,  the 
niece,  met  me  at  the  door  with  a  storm  of  abuse. 

"  There  was  no  wood  cut ;  the  work  of  the  house  had 
been  delayed  all  day  that  I  might  go  traipsing  about  like 
'your  mad  mother  before  you.'  I  don't  know  what  I  said  in 


70  THE  ALIENS. 

the  passionate  rage  of  the  moment,  but  the  girl  fled  up 
the  steps  to  the  kitchen.  I  stood  at  the  bottom,  panting 
and  trembling  with  shame  and  anger.  As  I  turned  away,  I 
felt  a  sudden  darting  pain  in  my  head,  and  knew  nothing 
more.  When  I  did  come  to  know  where  I  was,  it  was 
dark,  and  I  felt  my  head  swathed  and  throbbing.  I 
couldn't  move  my  neck.  In  time  I  learned  that  the  back 
of  my  skull  had  been  fractured ;  my  aunt,  standing  on  the 
steps,  had  thrown  a  heavy  carving-knife  down  at  me  as  I 
turned  my  back,  and  the  blade  had  cut  through  the  skull. 

"  When  I  had  recovered  sufficiently  to  get  about,  my 
uncle  told  me  that  he  couldn't  afford  doctors'  bills  for  a 
big  boy  like  me,  and  announced  his  intention  of  sending 
me  to  a  farmer  until  I  was  of  age.  The  threat  threw  me 
into  a  fever.  I  couldn't  eat  or  sleep.  The  terrors  of  that 
unknown  destiny — all  the  more  dreadful  that  they  were 
unknown — made  me  a  ghastly  shadow  of  myself.  When 
the  person  came,  and  my  uncle  called  me  into  the  room,  I 
fell  into  convulsions  on  the  floor.  What  happened  after,  I 
didn't  know  ;  but  when  I  was  conscious  of  my  existence 
again,  I  was  in  a  wagon  under  the  stars,  rolling  noisily  over 
a  country  road ;  a  hearty  voice  was  singing  a  stave  of  a 
negro  melody  then  much  in  vogue. 

"  I  waited,  in  wonder  and  dread,  the  end  of  the  affair. 
I  conjectured  that  I  was  with  the  farmer,  and  that  he  was 
driving  home.  It  was  very  solemn  and  quiet  when  the 
horses  stopped  at  a  high-barred  gate,  and  the  man,  jump 
ing  out,  let  them  pass  into  the  yard.  I  made  no  sign  of 
consciousness,  and  kept  resolutely  in  the  bottom  of  the 
wagon,  until,  the  horses  having  been  stabled,  the  man 
climbed  up,  and,  shaking  me  by  the  shoulder,  exclaimed, 
not  unkindly : 

" '  Come,  skeesicks,  here  we  are  home.'  I  got  up  with 
out  saying  a  word ;  he  lifted  me  down,  and  we  went  under 


A    VILLAGE  H AMP  DEN.  7! 

the  thick  shadow  of  a  great  mass  of  trees.  The  house  was 
quite  dark,  but  a  light  was  soon  struck.  I  could  see  the 
man  now.  He  was  the  same  that  had  come  for  me  in  the 
afternoon.  He  disappeared  for  a  moment,  and  left  me  in 
the  darkness.  I  could  hear  a  clatter  of  dishes,  and  pres 
ently  he  returned  with  a  great  platter  of  corn-bread,  blue 
delf  bowls,  and  a  pitcher  of  milk.  He  asked  me  a  great 
many  questions  as  we  ate  :  whether  I  had  been  to  school, 
if  I  liked  to  work,  could  I  husk  corn,  and  what  not.  He 
laughed  good-naturedly  at  some  of  my  answers,  and,  when 
the  milk  was  finished,  he  slipped  off  his  boots  and  directed 
me  to  do  the  same,  setting  them  with  great  care  behind 
the  stove.  At  the  head  of  the  stairs  he  led  me  into  a  room 
where  there  was  some  one  already  in  bed. 

"The  room  was  large,  deliciously  odorous  with  the 
faint  perfume  of  bergamot ;  the  windows  were  hung  with 
gayly  colored  dimity  ;  the  floor  covered  by  a  smartly  varie 
gated  home-made  carpet ;  a  crane-legged  bed,  with  a  pur 
ple  valance,  was  almost  the  only  article  of  furniture — at 
least  its  long  legs  and  high  posts  prevented  the  eye  from 
taking  in  any  other  details.  In  the  bed  I  could  catch 
sight  of  a  shock  of  black  hair,  and  one  ruddy  cheek  that 
fairly  glistened  in  the  flaring  candle-light.  With  the  words  : 

" '  Get  into  bed,  youngster,'  the  man  quitted  me,  taking 
the  candle.  I  was  so  startled  by  the  sudden  darkness  that 
my  first  impulse  was  to  run  after  him  ;  but  my  terror  of 
him  was  too  great.  How  I  ever  undressed  I  can't  imagine, 
but,  wretched  and  hungry  for  companionship,  I  fled  under 
the  bed-clothes,  snuggled  to  the  red  cheeks,  and  sobbed 
myself  to  sleep  on  the  unconscious  stranger's  shoulder. 

"  I  was  aroused  in  the  morning  by  a  gentle  shake,  and, 
opening  my  eyes,  the  ruddy  cheeks  of  the  night  before 
were  over  my  face.  Two  very  bright  black  eyes  were  re 
garding  me  with  wonder.  It  was  barely  daylight;  the 
4 


72  THE  ALIENS. 

birds  outside  the  window  were  chattering  and  chirping 
like  an  orchestra  preparing  an  overture.  The  fresh  scent 
of  honeysuckle  came  through  the  open  window ;  the  sun 
was  so  young  that  its  first  beams  were  purple  rather  than 
yellow.  I  made  friends  with  red  cheeks — a  grandson 
of  the  house  ;  and  I  found  that  the  man  who  had  brought 
me  thither  the  evening  before  was  not  my  new  guardian, 
master,  or  whatsoever  relation  my  condition  implied.  But 
another  surprise  was  in  store  for  me.  While  I  was  timidly 
questioning  my  little  comrade,  some  one  entered  the  room 
very  softly  and  stood  beside  the  bed.  She  was  a  young 
girl  in  her  first  teens,  with  liquid,  earnest  eyes,  and  hair 
that  seemed  woven  of  the  dusky-bronze  gold  of  the  dande 
lions.  I  lay  with  open  mouth  and  eyes,  vaguely  remem 
bering  the  face,  but  it  seemed  in  some  other  state  of  exist 
ence.  Tears  came  into  the  deep-gray  eyes  as  she  looked 
at-  me,  and,  bending  down  so  that  her  soft  lips  pressed 
mine,  she  sobbed  : 

"  '  O  Denny  !  don't  you  know — don't  you  remember 
Norah  ? ' 

"  I  knew  her  now,  but  a  child's  memory  at  first  isn't 
very  trusty.  She  told  me  that  it  was  her  work  and  her 
urging  that  had  finally  induced  the  kind  people  who  had 
become  parents  to  her  to  go  to  the  city  and  take  me  from 
Uncle  James's  unwilling  fireside.  '  There  never  was  any 
one  so  kind  as  my  dear  Doctor  Marbury  and  Aunt  Selina.' 
I  learned  afterward  that  '  Aunt  Selina '  meant  Mrs.  Mar- 
bury,  but  she  was  universally  known  as  aunt,  because,  as 
I  afterward  found,  she  had  so  many  grandsons  and  nieces 
and  nephews.  The  Doctor  was  her  second  husband. 
They  had  married  late  in  life,  when  grown  daughters  were 
married  and  settled  near  them.  They  had  been  divided 
in  the  loves  of  their  youth  through  some  family  feud,  and, 
coming  together  long  after  death  had  obliterated  the  causes 


A    VILLAGE  HAMPDEN.  73 

of  the  quarrel,  they  were  tranquilly  going  down  the  vale 
together,  serene  of  spirit  and  kindly  of  soul.  These  were 
the  new  parents  Providence  had  raised  up  for  me.  Under 
the  lovely  teachings  of  this  best  of  women,  I  passed  from 
the  emotional  Nihilism  bred  of  a  loveless  kinsman's,  chari 
ty  to  the  beneficent  inspiration  of  tenderness  and  love. 
Life,  which  even  in  those  young  years  I  had  begun  to  per 
plex  my  untutored  mind  about,  became  more  meaningful. 
I  understood,  or  seemed  dimly  to  comprehend,  the  use  of 
loving  something  different  from  my  dear  friends  the  birds. 
I  didn't  know  for  a  long  time  when  nor  what  first  gave 
me  the  impulse  to  make  all  the  use  of  my  faculties,  that  it 
dawned  on  me  boys  even  less  favored  than  myself  had 
often  brought  to  great  ends. 

"  Ah  !  I  realize  it  all  now,  when  I  think  of  the  serenity 
and  joyful  growth  of  that  life  ;  when  I  recall  the  miles  of 
fields,  every  tuft  of  which  became  as  familiar  to  me  as  the 
foreground  of  a  painter's  canvas  ;  when  I  recall  the  days 
spent  in  the  heart  of  the  solemn  woods — far,  far  in,  where 
the  melancholy  pines  seemed  to  shrink  from  mingling  their 
weird  monotones  with  the  joyous  voices  of  the  gayer  foli 
age  ;  when  with  companions  or  alone  I  was  equally  con 
tent  ;  when  alone,  I  filled  the  woods  with  the  fairies  of  the 
'  Midsummer-Night's  Dream,'  the  savages  of  '  Robinson 
Crusoe,'  or  the  elves  of  the  '  Fairy  Queen.'  Never,  I  be 
lieve,  did  a  boy,  not  an  Indian,  live  so  much  in  the  woods, 
or  comprehend  so  intimately  the  miracles  that  pass  under 
the  leafy  recesses  ;  where  the  world  we  see  so  little  of 
teems  and  toils  much  as  men  do,  but  to  less  selfish  gains 
and  less  ignoble  ends.  Life  was  a  joy  to  me  ;  the  tran 
quil  fields,  where  I  toiled  or  played,  were  equally  en 
deared  to  me  ;  the  fragrant  orchards,  where  on  Sundays 
I  sat  far  up  in  the  ample  arms  of  a  friendly  giant,  living 
the  joys,  suffering  the  sorrows,  or  gloating  over  the  marvels 


74  THE  ALIENS. 

of  my  childhood's  heroes.  It  was  a  vast  world,  this  of  my 
first  years  of  imaginative  growth.  Children  live  wholly  in 
the  imagination,  and  I  count  it  a  priceless  chance  that 
placed  me  in  an  atmosphere  where  Nature  herself  joined 
in  keeping  up  the  exquisite  comedy.  It  was  as  impossible 
to  exclude  the  animate  wonders  of  the  Marbury  meadows 
from  the  prosaic  doings  of  my  daily  life,  as  it  is  for  the 
priest  to  omit  the  solemn  atmosphere  of  the  church  as  a 
part  of  his  ministration. 

"  Then  the  dear  home  life  !  The  gardens,  gay  with 
holly-hocks,  dahlias,  and  a  hundred  other  simple  blossoms  ; 
the  groups  of  nodding  sunflowers  behind  the  dairy  win 
dows,  whose  heads  turning  to  the  sun  we  watched  with 
solemn  wonder  ;  the  four-o'clocks,  whose  regularly  closing 
petals  excited  our  awe ;  the  lustrous  currant-hedges,  where, 
like  young  Bacchuses,  we  gorged  the  luscious  berries  ;  the 
wonder  of  wonders,  the  '  Jack  and  Jill '  brook,  that  comes 
from  ever  so  far  off  in  the  West,  and  was  lost  in  the  Alle- 
ghany  Mountains.  Who  shall  count  the  joys  of  these 
fairy  realities  to  us,  at  a  time  when  the  mind  was  plastic 
and  the  habit  of  doubt  was  not  known  ?  I  learned  that 
brook  by  heart — miles  of  it,  I  mean — from  the  great  pond 
over  beyond  the  school-house,  where  the  black  snakes  lay 
coiled  in  the  sun,  to  the  cavernous  gap  far  below,  where 
it  branched  off  southeastward.  I  knew  every  sylvan 
secret  of  the  Marbury  meadows  before  the  year  was  out, 
though  I  never  shirked  my  chores,  nor  missed  the  school 
tasks.  I  haven't  spoken  of  my  little  bedfellow,  the  grand 
son  of  Dr.  Marbury.  He  was  one  year  older  than  I. 
His  mother  had  died  the  year  before,  and  his  father  had 
left  him  with  his  grandmother.  The  boy  was  an  affec 
tionate  little  fellow,  and  we  got  on  with  but  few  wrangles, 
and  these,  I  think,  were  generally  my  fault,  though  I 
didn't  think  so  in  those  days.  Sometimes  he  would  re- 


A    VILLAGE  H AMP  DEN.  75 

turn  from  a  visit  to  his  cousins,  who  lived  in  the  city,  and 
so  soon  after  these  as  he  happened  to  fall  out  with  me 
he  would  run  off  a  safe  distance  and  call  me  '  Paddy ! ' 

"Now,  I  had  been  tortured  by  this  nickname  at 
school ;  whenever  the  boys  had  a  quarrel  with  me,  they 
poured  wormwood  on  my  sensitive  wounds  by  calling  me 
this  ignominious  term,  indicating  Irish :  and  in  those  days 
to  say  that  meant  to  embody  the  race  most  contemned  of 
all  the  aliens  settling  the  country.  I  couldn't  understand 
the  reproach,  or  why  Irish  was  so  repulsive  or  intolerable, 
but  it  became  my  horror  by  day  and  my  torture  by  night. 
Once,  hearing  Mrs.  Marbury  alluding  to  some  one  who 
had  offended  her  in  the  neighborhood  as  a  'good-for- 
nothing  Irishman  ! '  I  grew  quite  white  with  suffocation 
as  I  turned  and  asked  her : 

"  '  Aunt  Selina,  why  is  it  low  and  wicked  to  be  Irish  ? ' 
She  was  sitting  in  her  high-backed  arm-chair  knitting,  the 
sunlight  falling  over  her  shoulder,  and  framing  her  kind 
old  wrinkled  face  in  such  peace  as  you  may  see  in  some 
Flemish  portraits.  She  dropped  her  knitting  on  her  knees 
and  looked  down  at  me  below  her  spectacles.  Norah  was 
standing  in  the  pantry-door,  and  Byron — Aunt  Selina's 
grandson — stopped  spinning  a  top,  with  which  he  had  been 
disturbing  the  afternoon  dreams  of  a  lion-like  cat  that  re 
monstrated  with  him  from  time  to  time  by  a  sharp  gruff 
noise  like  a  growl,  and  a  slap  with  the  flat  of  her  paw,  very 
like  a  human  stroke. 

" '  Why,  Denis,  child,  come  here.'  As  I  sank  at  her 
knees,  hiding  my  face,  she  patted  me  on  the  head,  and  said 
gently  : 

" '  My  child,  I  was  wrong  to  make  use  of  that  word  in 
that  way.  It  is  not  low  and  wicked  to  be  Irish,  but  peo 
ple  have  come  to  look  on  all  who  are  low  and  wicked  as 
Irish.  It  is  wrong,  no  doubt.  Indeed,  it  must  be  wrong, 


76  THE  ALIENS. 

for  my  grandfather  was  an  Irishman,  and  my  son's  wife 
was  Irish.  But  generally,  since  the  canal  came  through 
the  country,  people  have  associated  ignorance  and  lawless 
ness  with  the  gangs  that  dug  the  canal,  and  most  of  them 
were  Irish.  When  your  comrades  call  you  Irish,  you 
mustn't  mind  it ;  they  don't  know  themselves  what  they 
mean,  and,  if  it  were  not  that,  it  would  be  something  else.' 

"  I  was  soothed,  but  not  satisfied,  with  this  specious 
explanation ;  and  the  next  time  I  was  called  Paddy  I 
gave  my  tormentor  such  a  thrashing  that  the  affair  came 
up  in  the  class-room.  The  teacher  heard  the  story,  and, 
when  it  was  ended,  said  grimly  : 

'"Well,  Denis,  I  don't  see  why  you  object  so  fiercely 
to  being  called  Irish :  you  are  Irish.  Of  course  you  can't 
help  it,  nor  can  any  one  help  calling  you  what  you  are, 
especially  when  you  act  so  like  an  Irishman  as  to  black 
the  eyes  and  bruise  the  body  of  one  of  your  playmates.' 

"  It  was  thus  officially  proclaimed  that  my  race  was  a 
disgrace.  During  the  years  that  I  remained  in  Marbury, 
'  Paddy '  was  the  name  I  was  known  by,  and  I  found  it 
better  to  answer  good-naturedly  than  resent  it.  I  should 
not  have  been  so  easily  reconciled,  had  it  not  been  for  a 
scene  that  happened  one  day  at  the  end  of  the  third  sum 
mer  term,  when  I  was  in  my  eleventh  year.  The  whole 
family  had  attended  the  closing  exercises,  when  Denis 
Boyne  was  called  up  to  receive  two  prizes  in  scholarship 
and  one  prize  for  conduct,  and  was  loudly  applauded  for 
a  recitation  by  the  visitors.  Norah  was  very  proud,  and 
talked  of  her  brother  all  the  way  home,  and  you  may  be 
sure  that  young  fellow  didn't  suffer  much  on  finding  every 
body  praising  him.  At  supper-table  my  dear  Doctor,  look 
ing  kindly  at  me  through  his  great  round  goggles,  that  at 
first  made  me  laugh  when  I  looked  at  him,  said,  in  his 
cheery,  benignant  tone : 


A    VILLAGE  HAMPDEN.  77 

" '  Who  knows,  mother,  perhaps  our  little  Paddy  may 
be  a  great  man  some  day — President  or  Governor :  Jack 
son  is  an  Irishman.' 

"  It  was  too  much  to  have  the  hateful  name  and  re 
proach  brought  against  me  in  the  glory  of  my  triumph. 
It  was  more  than  my  excited  mind  could  bear.  I  choked 
over  the  mouthful  I  was  swallowing,  and,  with  a  bursting 
heart,  bolted  from  the  table,  and,  flying  madly  to  the  spot 
where  the  plantains  were  high  and  thick,  I  flung  myself 
prone  on  the  ground  in  a  passionate  outburst  of  misery. 
Norah  came  out  presently  and  called  me,  but  I  never  an 
swered.  It  was  nearly  time  for  my  evening  work,  and  I 
was  thinking  miserably  of  facing  the  rest,  when  Aunt 
Selina  came  upon  me  from  the  currant-bushes.  She 
patted  me  gently  on  the  head,  and  rather  made  me 
ashamed  of  my  foolish  griefs.  That  night,  when  I  was 
sneaking  off  to  bed — (in  those  days  we  all  went  to  bed  by 
twilight ;  I  never  remember  a  candle  lighted  in  summer, 
and  I  never  had  a  light  to  go  to  bed  with  even  in  winter ; 
such  indulgence  being  regarded  as  an  effeminizing  luxury) 
— as  I  was  sneaking  off  to  bed,  the  kind  Doctor  came  out 
after  me,  and  said,  with  something  very  like  sternness  : 

" '  My  boy,  you  must  get  over  this  silly  shame  about 
your  origin.  It  is  not  what  a  man  is  called,  or  what  he  is 
born,  or  what  his  fathers  were,  that  make  him  either  good, 
or  useful,  or  to  be  admired  or  hated.  You  must  learn  to 
look  upon  men  just  as  though  they  were  all  cut  from  the 
same  piece,  and  were  worth  just  what  they  made  them 
selves  worth  ;  or,  like  your  figures  in  arithmetic,  of  value 
only  as  they  take  place  in  a  column.  It  doesn't  make  you 
one  bit  better  or  worse  to  be  Irish,  German,  or  French. 
In  the  days  of  the  Romans,  all  the  world,  not  born  in 
Rome,  were  barbarians.  But  we  aren't  people  of  their 
lordly  ways.  When  I  was  a  college  boy  in  Baltimore,  I 


78  THE  ALIENS. 

was  made  miserable  by  being  pointed  out  as  a  Yankee, 
while  the  most  arrogant  spirits  in  the  town  were  the  de 
scendants  of  the  Irish,  who  had  been  great  families  when 
the  English  ruled  the  province.' 

"  I  can't  say  that  the  Doctor's  philosophizing  eased  my 
anguish,  or  that  I  bore  the  taunt  with  equanimity  until 
many  a  year  after,  when  I  came  to  comprehend  and  esti 
mate  at  its  just  value  the  vulgar  prejudice  against  the 
Celt  as  a  citizen  in  the  New  World.  But  I  redoubled  my 
work,  determined  to  employ  all  my  faculties  to  make  such 
a  man  of  myself  that  my  race  should  be  no  reproach  to 
me.  Events  soon  came  to  pass  that  changed  the  current 
of  my  existence,  and  altered  the  shaping  factors  in  my 
career  ;  and,  please  God,  though  I  have  endured  sorrows 
since,  it  has  never  been  for  any  act  of  mine  that  could  be 
justly  called  disgraceful  or  unworthy.  But,  as  I  look  back 
upon  those  years,  I  sometimes  wonder  that  my  heart 
wasn't  wholly  hardened,  and  that  I  didn't  become  the  out 
cast  and  reprobate  that  the  harsh  and  thoughtless,  who 
had  much  to  do  with  me,  prophesied.  For  I  think  now 
that,  though  I  was  an  affectionate  and  tractable  child,  I 
was  difficult  to  govern,  for  mischief  was  as  natural  to  me 
as  the  brogue  to  Donnegal.  That  I  didn't  fulfill  those 
dark  predictions  was,  under  the  good  God,  the  wondrous 
chance  that  gave  me  the  friendship  and,  finally,  love  of  a 
being  so  rare  and  pure  and  perfect  that  I  shrink  from  even 
naming  her  at  this  miserable  epoch  of  my  life. 

"  My  first  days  at  school  were  marked  by  the  trials  and 
anguish  inseparable  to  an  introduction  to  companions  of 
one's  own  age.  Shy,  and,  when  not  shy,  reckless  to  the 
utmost  limits  of  impudence,  the  Irish  in  me  was  a  well- 
spring  of  malicious  pranks  and  tests  on  the  part  of  my 
comrades.  One  day,  when  they  had  exhausted  every  other 
artifice  to  worry  me,  it  was  proposed  that  I  should  kiss  all 


A    VILLAGE  H AMP  DEN. 


79 


the  girls  when  the  school  closed,  under  penalty  of  being 
dragged  in  the  mill-pond.  Now,  this  pond,  which  spread 
to  limits  of  fascinating  terror  to  me,  far  away  among  the 
gloomy  swamps,  was  filled  on  warm  afternoons  with  mon 
strous  water-snakes — the  very  sight  of  which  to  this  day 
turns  the  marrow  in  my  bones  to  ice.  It  was  agreed  that 
the  boys  should  hold  certain  girls  near  the  gate,  and  that 
'  Paddy '  should '  smack  '  each  one  loud  enough  to  be  heard 
by  the  whole  band.  Sure  enough,  when  the  teacher  had 
disappeared,  as  the  girls  came  trooping  out  a  dozen  of 
them  were  caught,  and  I  was  ordered  to  do  my  duty.  To 
tell  the  truth,  I  didn't  mind  the  matter  very  much,  as  most 
of  the  girls  had  shown  me  profound  disdain  and  contempt. 
But,  as  I  was  thrust  forward  by  two  stalwart  young  ruf 
fians,  and  the  girls,  who  had  made  but  little  objection  to 
the  other  lads  seizing  them,  began  to  rain  down  blows  on 
my  bare  head  for  my  presumption,  the  fun  was  too  good 
for  the  leaders  to  give  up  at  once,  and  they  kept  me  at 
it,  blinded,  scratched,  and  now  angrily  struggling  to  be 
released.  But  the  more  I  was  buffeted  the  more  in  earnest 
the  rest  became,  and  it  was  resolved  that,  as  I  had  not  suc 
ceeded  in  kissing  one  girl,  I  should  be  flung  into  the  pond 
at  the  roots  of  the  willows,  where  the  snakes  were  biggest 
and  always  sure  to  be  found.  I  was  bleeding  and  help 
less,  and  unable  even  to  kick  at  my  tormentors  as  they 
dragged  me  over  the  sand  and  sod  to  the  water's  edge. 
Some  of  the  girls  became  compassionate  at  this,  and  cried 
out  against  it. 

' '  Pshaw !  it'll  do  him  good ;  they  don't  have  snakes 
in  Ireland,'  cried  the  leader  of  the  merry-makers,  Arthur 
Kennel. 

"  The  pond  was  across  a  wide  field  from  the  school- 
ground,  and  they  dragged  me  along,  shrieking.  Once  I 
must  have  fainted,  for,  when  I  became  conscious,  I  was 


80  THE  ALIENS. 

lying  quite  unmolested  on  the  ground,  the  boys  staring  at 
me  in  a  sort  of  fright.  As  I  opened  my  eyes  slowly,  Ar 
thur  exclaimed  : 

" '  Oh,  fudge,  he's  only  shamming :  these  Irish  are 
coons  for  tricks.  Heave  him  along.  I  can  see  the  snakes 
uncoiling  to  welcome  him.' 

"  O  my  God  !  the  horror  of  that  moment.  I  sprang  at 
the  nearest  boy  and  buried  my  teeth  deep  in  his  cheek ; 
a  hand  came  near  me  :  I  think  I  must  have  bitten  a  finger 
quite  to  the  bone.  I  was  mad  with  fear  and  rage — princi 
pally  fear — and,  before  they  bore  me  down  by  force  of 
numbers,  three  of  them  were  howling  with  pain  and  quite 
bloody.  I  was  blinded  with  blood,  and  I  never  knew  how 
they  got  to  the  edge  of  the  water.  Here  I  had  regained 
strength,  and  made  another  fight ;  but  Arthur,  by  a  sharp 
welt  across  my  eyes  with  his  satchel-strap,  quite  blinded 
me,  and  I  lay  on  the  ground  kicking  and  striking  out  in 
an  agony  of  horror.  They  were  too  tired  to  resume  for 
the  moment,  and  I  had  just  time  to  catch  a  glimpse  of 
great  monstrous  coils  of  scaly  serpents  wound  around  the 
limbs  of  the  willows  that  grew  perhaps  ten  feet  from  the 
water's  edge.  Then  I  yelled,  '  Murder ! '  but  Kennel  and 
another  boy,  throwing  themselves  on  me,  stuffed  a  hand 
kerchief  in  my  mouth.  My  terror  now  gave  zest  to  the 
purpose,  and  they  seized  me  again  by  the  shoulders  and 
feet,  a  boy  holding  each  arm.  Then,  as  we  reached  the 
water's  edge,  Kennel  said  suddenly : 

"  '  Paddy,  can  you  swim  ?  ' 

"  I  thought  they  were  going  to  relent,  and  I  clutched 
at  the  chance  of  escape.  I  told  a  lie. 

"  '  No,  I  can't.' 

"'So  much  the  better.  But  you're  too  foxy,  Paddy. 
I  saw  you  swim  down  at  the  Devil's  Pool.  You  can't  fool 
me,  Irishy ! ' 


A    VILLAGE  HAMPDEN.  8 1 

"  Then,  before  I  realized  his  purpose,  ray  arms  were 
strapped  under  me,  and  the  rest  halted  to  take  breath  be 
fore  flinging  me  in.  I  held  them  at  bay  with  my  legs, 
kicking  viciously,  and  squirming  around  in  the  soft  soil 
until  I  could  feel  even  my  skin,  through  the  clothes,  wet 
and  muddy.  They  threw  themselves  on  me,  however,  and 
were  lifting  me  for  the  plunge,  when  a  terrified  voice  said  : 

" '  Why,  boys,  what  are  you  doing  ? ' 

"They  turned,  and  some  of  them  relinquished  their 
hold.  I  looked  eagerly.  It  was  Cordelia  Dane,  the 
daughter  of  the  Deacon,  one  of  the  rich  farmers  of  the 
country. 

"'Ah,  Dilly,  you're  just  in  time  for  the  fun.  We're 
going  to  throw  Paddy  in  among  the  snakes ;  he  never  saw 
any  in  Ireland,  and  we  want  him  to  see  what  we've  got  in 
this  country.' 

" '  But  what  has  he  done  to  you  ?  It  is  very  cruel. 
He  is  bleeding  and  hurt,'  and  she  came  nearer  to  me  and 
shuddered  as  she  saw  the  plight  I  was  in. 

" '  It's  all  perfectly  fair,  Dilly,'  Arthur  Kennel  said. 
'  We'll  leave  it  to  you.  We  gave  him  his  choice  :  kiss  the 
girls  or  be  ducked.  He  wouldn't,  or  couldn't,  and  we 
must  keep  our  word.  If  he  had  kissed  one  girl  we  would 
have  let  him  off.  Wouldn't  we,  boys  ? '  asked  Arthur,  wink 
ing  at  the  others. 

"  '  Oh,  of  course,'  they  chimed  in 

" '  You  are  wicked  and  dreadful  boys,  and  I  shall  tell 
the  teacher  of  you,'  she  said  hotly.  '  You're  cowards  :  all 
of  you  against  one.  Go  away;  let  the  poor  boy  go  home.' 

"  She  came  quite  close  to  me  now,  where  I  sat  on  the 
ground,  all  sense  of  danger  quite  gone,  and  lost  in  wonder 
at  the  interposition  of  this,  the  most  timid  and  shrinking 
girl  in  the  classes  ;  for,  though  I  had  seen  and  sat  near 
her  on  the  benches,  she  had  never  noticed  me  nor  did  I 


82  THE  ALIENS. 

dare  speak  to  her.  She  bent  down  and  tried  to  loosen 
the  strap,  but  it  was  tied  with  a  cord. 

" '  Come,  come,  Dilly,  we're  bound  to  have  our  way. 
This  is  no  place  for  girls ;  go  home  and  tell  the  teacher 
that  we've  given  the  Irishman  a  bath.  He  needs  it,  doesn't 
he  ?  '  and  Arthur  pushed  her  roughly  from  me,  while  the 
rest  laughed. 

" '  You  say  you'll  let  him  go  if  he — he — kisses  one 
girl  ? '  She  blushed  scarlet.  The  boys  gathered  nearer 
with  grinning  curiosity. 

" '  Yes,  if  he'll  kiss  a  girl  we'll  let  him  scoot.  What  do 
you  say,  boys  ?  '  and  Arthur  looked  at  the  rest. 

"  '  Agreed  ! ' 

"  She  came  to  where  I  sat,  and  bent  down  until  her 
rosy  cheek  was  cjuite  at  my  lips,  and  said  : 

"  '  Denis,  kiss  me.' 

"  I  touched  the  soft  flesh  timidly  as  Aladdin  the  hand 
of  the  princess. 

"'But  the  bargain  was  that  it  was  to  be  a  "smack" 
that  we  all  could  hear.  No  one  heard  that.' 

"'Yes,  that's  so,  a  smack,  a  smack,  or  no  fair,'  was  the 
unanimous  shout. 

"  Dilly  looked  from  one  to  the  other  in  gentle  entreaty ; 
but  the  young  cannibals  were  remorseless.  She  came 
close  to  me  again,  and  as  she  did  so  I  saw  the  handle  of  a 
short  case-knife  in  her  dinner-basket.  Though  my  arms 
were  tied,  my  hands  were  free,  and  I  seized  this  quick  as 
a  flash.  In  a  second  I  had  cut  the  strap  and  was  free. 

"  '  God  bless  you,  Dilly  ! '  I  said ;  '  but  I  won't  let  you 
do  that  again  for  me,  to  please  vagabonds  like  these. — 
Now,'  I  said,  'if  you  want  to  throw  me  into  the  water, 
come  on ! ' 

"  They  saw  the  knife  ;  it  had  been  ground  down,  and 
came  to  a  sharp  point ;  it  would  have  been  a  dangerous 


A    VILLAGE  HAMPDEN.  83 

weapon  in  determined  hands.  Then  they  slunk  away, 
and  we  were  left  alone.  They  kept  up  jeers  and  taunts 
until  they  were  out  of  sight.  I  was  afraid  to  go  near  the 
water  to  wash  myself,  for  I  thought  the  great  limbs  were 
snakes.  I  was  too  shy  to  speak  to  the  little  maid ;  I  walked 
along  behind  her.  She  never  said  a  word,  but  once,  as  I 
caught  up  with  her,  she  silently  handed  me  her  hand 
kerchief  to  wipe  the  blood  from  my  face.  I  was  too 
abashed  to  take  it,  and  shook  my  head.  We  walked  to 
the  forks  of  the  road  together,  nearly  half-way  to  the  Doc 
tor's,  and  never  a  word  was  spoken.  The  bobolinks  were 
singing  on  the  rail-fences,  the  red  kingbirds  fluttering  in 
the  elders,  and  she  seemed  to  be  intent  only  in  watching 
and  listening  to  the  pleasant  summer  sounds.  I  knew  a 
spot  by  the  brook  that  crossed  the  road  where  violets  and 
yellow  cowslips  grew,  and  I  noticed  that  the  girls  had  lit 
tle  bunches  of  these  on  their  desks,  and  sometimes  gathered 
them  for  the  teacher.  As  she  walked  on  ahead  of  me,  I 
furtively  plucked  a  pretty  handful  of  these,  and,  as  we 
reached  the  parting  where  she  turned  to  the  right,  trem 
bling  with  shame,  I  came  silently  to  her  side  and  held  them 
out.  She  blushed  prettily  as  she  took  them,  and  said  : 

" '  Thank  you,  Denis  Boyne  ;  I  think  you're  a  very 
good  boy.' 

"  I  stood  rooted  to  the  spot  as  she  walked  away,  and 
glowing  with  wonder  and  admiration,  as  she  turned,  after 
she  had  gone  a  little  way,  and  looked  back.  All  the  way 
home  the  bobolinks  kept  saying : 

"Good  boy,  Denis  Boyne;  good  boy,  Denis  Boyne,' 
until  I  thought  that  the  birds  knew  me,  and  knew  what 
was  in  my  heart. 

"And  that  I  have  loved  good,  and  hated  wrong,  and 
cruelty  and  baseness,  and  am  come  to  the  esteem  of  my 
kind,  is  due  to  that  tender  heart,  that  spotless  soul — the 


84 


THE  ALIENS. 


God-sent  minister  in  my  misery,  the  consoler  and  inspirer 
when  the  heavier  hand  came  upon  me.  I  look  in  her 
sweet  eyes  now,  as  I  looked  that  dreadful  day,  and  all  is 
peace  and  benignance,  and  I  bend  humbly  and  reverently 
to  Him  that  softens  or  turns  the  wrath  of  the  cruel,  and 
sends  the  angel,  men  call  woman,  to  make  the  mightiest 
as  a  little  child." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"WARS  OF  ROSE  AND  SHAMROCK." 

IN  the  days  when  Denis  played  dryad  in  the  Marbury 
woods,  Malvern,  the  neighboring  spa,  was  not  the  sumptuous 
assemblage  of  summer  hotels  and  city  traffic  it  is  now  be 
come.  The  springs,  where  Denis  sat  many  an  hour  dream 
ing  of  classic  superstitions,  gushed  from  shining  sandy  beds 
under  leafy  recesses,  where  marble  basins  now  hold  the 
water  and  gay  pavilions  cover  the  thirsty  at  its  shrine. 
But,  though  the  hamlet  had  not  taken  on  the  airs  of  a  re 
sort  in  fashionable  favor,  the  famous  tavern,  known  far 
and  near  for  its  excellent  cheer,  counted  on  a  regular 
summer  visiting-list  that  made  the  woodlands  gay  for 
three  months.  There  were  merry-making  and  good  cheer, 
if  not  the  dissipation  and  splendor  of  a  later  time.  In 
those  days,  however,  the  stately  families  that  came  for  rest 
and  the  waters  were  content  with  accommodations  that 
their  effeminate  descendants  would  reject  as  hardships. 

In  those  days  a  fine  reader  was  a  courted  person,  and  to 
talk  agreeably,  listen  discreetly,  and  bow  with  grace,  were 
held  to  be  accomplishments  which  adorned  any  man, 
young  or  old.  The  tourist  who  lounges  in  the  mag- 


"  WARS  OF  ROSE  AND  SHAMROCK."          85 

nificent  pavilions  of  the  Malvern  of  to-day  can  form  but 
a  vague  notion  of  the  place  as  it  was  seen  by  the  person 
ages  of  this  history.  Where  long  lines  of  pilastered  col 
onnades  gleam  through  stately  sweeps  of  branches  now, 
the  visitor  in  Denis's  day  found  the  husbandman's  barley, 
buckwheat,  oats,  or  the  robin  scattering  the  apple-blossoms 
that  covered  the  young  blades.  The  tavern,  kept  by 
Major  Waffle,  was  the  joy  of  the  unfastidious  city  men, 
who  settled  down  to  its  venison  patties,  its  wholesome 
roasts,  and  well-flavored  game,  with  an  enthusiasm  that  is 
lost  on  the  culinary  triumphs  of  to-day.  So  soon  as  the 
summer  set  in,  Major  Waffle  put  the  neighboring  Nimrods 
— all  held  in  renown  for  cunning — to  supply  his  table  for 
the  gourmets  that  drank  the  waters  and  ate — as  an  occu 
pation — between  July  and  September.  Royalty  itself,  in 
the  days  when  whole  oxen  were  set  before  Queen  Eliza 
beth,  never  encountered  such  hospitality  as  made  the  re 
nown  of  the  honest  Major. 

Had  the  super-sensitive  Vatel  spared  his  life,  when  he 
over-salted  the  Grande  Monarque's  soup,  and  lived  to  taste 
the  Major's  masterpiece,  he  would  certainly  have  choked 
himself  with  chagrin  on  encountering  that  famous  partridge 
pot-pie  that  drew  a  tribute  from  the  great  Lafayette  when 
he  passed  through  the  country.  It  was  only  on  gala  occa 
sions  that  the  Major  gave  himself  up  to  the  creation  of 
this  toothsome  triumph  ;  but  the  feast  was  long  remem 
bered,  and  events  were  dated  from  it  as  of  old  from  the 
feasts  of  the  rich  Romans  !  Nor,  though  lacking  the  os 
tentatious  proportions  of  its  prodigious  successor,  was  the 
Devon  tavern  lacking  in  homely  comforts  and  even  luxury. 
Wide  halls  divided  the  house  into  rooms  of  equal  size, 
front  and  rear,  forever  fragrant  with  the  odors  of  flowers 
and  foliage. 

Front  and  back  the  rooms  opened  upon  green  vistas  of 


86  THE  ALIENS. 

leafy  aisles  or  billowy  water.  Of  an  evening,  in  lieu  of 
the  modern  concerts  and  feverish  movement,  cards  were 
brought  on  in  the  great  parlors,  and  the  groups,  dividing 
into  fours,  played  a  decorous  whist,  until  the  ladies  gave 
the  signal  for  retiring.  The  younger  folks  danced  the 
old-fashioned  reels,  or  the  cotillions  of  the  day,  to  the 
primitive  strains  of  a  flute,  violin,  or  harp — an  orchestra 
made  up  from  the  hotel  boys,  or  wandering  minstrels  en 
tertained  by  the  kind  Major.  Nor  did  the  pretty  feet  of 
our  grandmothers  trip  any  less  gracefully  to  the  measures 
piped  and  scraped  on  these  instruments  than  do  those  of 
our  own  daughters,  sisters,  or  sweethearts  to-day,  with  full 
string  bands  and  puzzling  profusion  of  essentials  that  take 
up  the  time  our  ancestors  gave  to  merry-making.  For, 
though  you  may  doubt  it,  there  was  infinite  pleasure  in 
these  primitive  summer  jaunts  of  the  old  time.  Women 
as  well  as  men  were  fond  of  the  excitement  of  cards,  just 
as  they  were  in  the  grave  societies  of  the  Old  World. 

Colonel  Warchester,  whose  family  were  lords  of  this  sum 
mer  haunt,  never  became  so  charmingly  convivial  as  when 
he  was  able  to  get  a  new  listener  to  that  famous  anecdote 
of  his  father  and  General  Washington  playing  for  a  night 
and  a  day,  until  the  father  of  his  country  was  obliged  to 
stake  Madame  Washington's  finest  brew  of  peach  brandy, 
pledged  to  Madame  Lafayette  at  that,  to  keep  up  the 
game  ;  how,  not  daring  to  tell  his  thrifty  dame,  the  father 
of  his  country  made  a  pretext  for  carrying  her  off  on  a 
visit  to  her  kinsman,  Custis  Lee,  and,  while  she  was  gone, 
sent  the  brandy  to  Colonel  Warchester  at  Annapolis ! 
The  Warchesters  held  their  heads  even  above  the  Lord 
Poultney  who  had  made  Malvern  his  summer  home  regu 
larly  during  his  sojourn  in  this  country.  Lord  Poultney 
had  bought  a  great  tract  of  land  not  far  from  Warchester, 
on  the  southeastern  shores  of  Lake  Montaria,  founded  a 


"  WARS  OF  ROSE  AND  SHAMROCK."          S/ 

town  which  bears  the  glory  of  his  name  to  this  day,  and  in 
everything  but  naturalization  had  become  an  American. 

Malvern  waters  had  restored  the  wasted  tissues  of  the 
gouty  earl,  and  he  was  its  most  devoted  and  delighted 
patron.  He  was  never  tired  of  telling  how  his  youth  had 
been  restored  by  its  springs,  a  miracle  which  did  not  ex 
cite  the  enthusiasm  of  a  family  of  poor  relations  settled  in 
my  lord's  straggling  colony.  They  were  still  less  charmed 
with  the  wonder  when,  in  his  fiftieth  year,  the  rejuvenated 
lord,  falling  in  with  the  bewitching  Molly  Myrickson, 
married  her  off-hand  to  the  indescribable  indignation  of 
Warchester's  "  best  people,"  who  had  not  as  yet  come  to 
regard  riches  as  equal  to  a  hundred  years'  quarterings. 
Michael  Myrickson  had  applied  his  modest  energies  to 
the  development  of  the  resources  that  finally  made  the 
town  imposing  and  himself  rich,  first,  by  swinging  a  pick 
in  the  bed  of  the  canal,  and  afterward  in  shoeing  the  un 
shod  feet  of  the  horses  that  passed  the  Rialto  corner  of 
the  town.  Michael's  trained  eyes  taught  him  to  mark 
the  phenomena  of  soils,  and,  revolving  the  matter  in  his 
mind,  he  was  convinced  that  the  mineral  signs  he  found 
on  the  feet  of  certain  horses  would  pay  examining. 

He  went  to  the  lands  where  the  horses  wrought,  and 
sure  enough  a  slight  scrutiny  developed  deposits  of  coal 
and  iron.  The  land  was  near  Lord  Poultney's  purchase. 
He  made  an  arrangement  that  insured  him  two  thirds  of 
the  usufruct,  and  by  Lord  Poultney's  aid  began  working 
the  lode.  This  was  the  first  case  of  the  kind  in  War- 
chester.  Everybody  waited  to  see  how  Madame  War- 
chester,  the  social  arbiter,  would  decide  the  rank  of  this 
upstart  opulence.  Colonel  Warchester,  who  had  often 
stopped  in  the  shop,  where  Michael  stood  with  some  neigh 
bor's  horse's  hoof  between  his  knees,  and  conversed  affa 
bly,  found  himself  considerably  embarrassed  one  day  on 


88  THE  ALIENS. 

discovering  Michael  elected  to  the  presidency  of  a  bank 
in  which  the  Colonel  was  a  stockholder.  The  scene  was  a 
good  deal  relished  by  Governor  Darcy,  who  good-natured 
ly  satirized  the  pretensions  of  the  original  settlers  in  the 
young  city,  and  was  regarded  with  aversion  by  the  more 
tenacious  votaries  of  family  caste.  As  banker  and  million 
aire,  the  Myricksons  were  generally  conceded  equality 
among  the  less  tenacious  advocates  of  the  divine  right  of 
social  precedence  entailed  in  native  birth.  There  was 
great  curiosity  to  learn  the  result  of  the  contest  between 
Lady  Molly  and  Mistress  Warchester.  My  lady  had  not 
passed  much  time  in  town  after  her  marriage.  The  field 
of  the  cloth  of  gold  upon  which  these  social  pretenders 
came  to  settle  their  rivalry  was,  to  the  joy  of  their  feuda 
tories — Malvern. 

In  equipage,  the  Warchester  family -coach  rather 
eclipsed  the  Poultney  caleche.  My  lord  clung  to  his  Eng 
lish  ways  in  this  as  in  the  regulation  of  his  daily  affairs, 
and  even  Lady  Molly  couldn't  ridicule  the  cumbrous  yel 
low-bodied  Berlin  out  of  his  affections.  So,  while  the 
Warchesters  descended  into  the  ample  arms  of  Major 
Waffles  and  the  honest  Mistress  Major,  from  a  carriage  of 
shining  ebony  and  lusterless  argentry,  the  Lady  Poultney 
skipped  out  of  the  lumbering  yellow  chariot  that  had  held 
beauties  of  George  II's  time,  when  the  young  Poult- 
neys  made  a  great  figure  at  the  masques  of  my  Lord  Wai- 
pole  near  Twickenham.  The  stout  blacksmith,  in  his  char 
acter  of  partner  and  Croesus,  refused  to  make  part  of  his 
son-in-law's  establishment,  and  came  to  Malvern  on  the 
stage-coach  quite  simply,  as  though  his  newly  acquired 
wealth  might  fly  if  used  too  lavishly. 

Madame  Warchester  bowed  with  a  prodigious  dignity 
to  the  company  gathered  on  the  shaded  piazza,  and  swept 
into  the  wide  hall,  her  children  following  her,  with  such 


"  WARS  OF  ROSE  AND  SHAMROCK."          89 

an  air  as  I  imagine  Queen  Bess  assumed  when  she  alighted 
at  Kenilworth,  and,  giving  her  hand  to  my  Lord  Leicester 
to  kiss,  sailed  into  the  stone  doorway.  My  Lady  Molly 
stopped  and  waited  for  her  lord  to  clamber  down  ;  he  had 
been  sitting  on  the  seat  with  the  driver,  and,  as  she  spied 
old  friends,  saluted  them  good-humoredly.  One  young 
girl,  starting  up,  was  caught  in  Lady  Molly's  arms  with 
loud  kisses  that  sounded  along  the  balcony  and  made 
every  one  adore  the  honest  soul. 

"  Me  darling !  Oi'm  delighted  that  ye're  here.  I  was 
afeared  ye'd  go  to  Niagara,  and  me  lord  wouldn't  go  there 
for  love  or  fear." 

Kind  glances  followed  my  lady  as  she  disappeared,  and 
even  my  lord,  as  he  hobbled  in,  came  in  for  some  of  the 
good-will  his  jolly  wife  excited.  It  was  a  remarkable 
trick  of  Lady  Molly's  speech  that  when  she  was  in  cer 
tain  humors  the  brogue  betrayed  the  origin  of  her  wit  and 
lively  humor.  When  she  was  at  ease  she  rather  encour 
aged  her  tongue  in  the  drollest  vagaries  of  her  father's 
copious  brogue :  possibly  because  the  play  upon  the  vow 
els  displayed  the  richness  and  flexible  delicacy  of  her  un 
dertones,  which  fell  upon  the  ear  with  a  delicious  reso 
nance. 

It  was  remarked  by  those  who  knew  her  well  that, 
when  she  chose,  Lady  Molly  could  slip  the  brogue  from  her 
ready  tongue  and  replace  it  by  an  accuracy  of  accent  that 
would  have  driven  a  Dublin  grammarian  mad  with  envy. 
Molly's  wit  and  beauty  made  her  a  favorite,  even  before 
the  glory  of  a  coronet  came  to  decorate  her  dark  auburn 
hair. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  politely  subdued  excitement 
and  expectant  qui  vive  among  the  three-score  guests  of  the 
"  Devon,"  when  Lady  Molly's  coming  was  known,  to  see 
the  encounter  with  "  My  Lady  Warchester."  She  was  al- 


90  THE  ALIENS. 

ways  called  "  my  lady  "  behind  her  back.  She  must  give 
place  to  Mrs.  Paddy,  it  was  said,  for  by  all  social  laws  the 
titled  lady  must  take  the/a-r.  Lady  Molly,  coming  down 
through  the  corridor  to  dinner,  was  stopped  in  the  door 
way  by  a  personage  just  arriving.  As  she  stood  blocking 
the  way,  Madame  Warchester,  with  her  daughter  Mildred, 
and  her  son  Darcy,  the  cadet,  moved  swiftly  forward  from 
the  drawing-room  of  the  hotel.  Lord  Poultney  stood  fac 
ing  the  hallway,  and  my  Lady  Molly  stood  with  her  back 
to  it.  Madame  Warchester  gives  my  lord  a  lofty  bend  of 
the  head,  which  he  responds  to  by  a  sweeping  bow,  and 
asks  after  her  own  and  her  family's  health.  She  barely 
murmurs  a  grimly  polite  reply  as  she  pushes  past  the 
elderly  nobleman,  who  says,  with  stately  emphasis  : 

"Lady  Poultney  ;  Mistress  Warchester." 

Madame  looks  him  straight  in  the  eye,  as  if  to  mark  the 
event  more  unequivocally,  and,  gathering  her  flowing  robe, 
passes  with  frigid  ignoring  into  the  dining-room.  Lord 
Poultney  looked  after  the  valiant  campaigner  in  helpless 
perplexity,  and  then,  as  the  full  significance  of  her  action 
came  upon  him,  his  mild  eyes  bulged  in  apoplectic  incre 
dulity.  He  made  a  gesture  as  if  about  to  seize  the  serene 
figure  sailing  past  him  ;  but  the  arm  of  Lady  Molly,  slipped 
within  his  own,  recalled  him  to  the  conventional  amenities. 

"  Ton  me  word,  I  believe  he'd  have  boxed  her  ears,  as 
Phil  Dougherty  did  the  Duke  of  Wicklow,"  said  his  wife, 
talking  of  the  encounter  afterward.  "  Me  friend  the 
madame  is  hard  to  plaze,"  added  the  countess,  laughing  at 
the  scene.  "  She  wouldn't  know  me,  when  I  was  plain 
Molly  Myrickson,  because  I  didn't  have  enough  rank  ;  now 
she  refuses  to  know  me  because  I've  too  much." 

Mrs.  Warchester's  repugnance  to  the  good-natured 
countess  was  not  shared  by  the  male  members  of  the 
family.  Colonel  Warchester  never  omitted  an  opportunity 


"  WARS  OF  ROSE  AND  SHAMROCK." 


91 


of  saluting  her;  while  his  son  Lieutenant  Darcy  Warchester, 
just  graduated  from  West  Point,  declared  her  irresistible. 
The  Lieutenant  indeed  would  have  found  Malvern  tiresome 
the  first  week  of  his  stay,  if  Lady  Molly  had  not  encour 
aged  him  to  join  her  forces ;  for  the  place  was  divided  into 
two  distinct  camps — the  elderly  folk  owning  allegiance  to 
the  imperious  Warchester,  while  the  younger  gayly  cast 
their  fortunes  with  the  countess. 

Dr.  Marbury,  who  had  been  a  school-fellow  of  Colonel 
Warchester,  gave  a  humorous  sketch  of  the  wars  of  the 
rose  and  shamrock — as  he  called  the  feud — one  day,  on 
returning  from  a  dinner  at  Malvern,  to  which  he  had  been 
invited  solemnly  by  his  old-time  comrade.  Denis  listened 
to  the  account  of  the  stately  dame  and  the  husband,  and 
vaguely  recalled  such  persons,  but  he  couldn't  remember 
where  he  had  seen  them.  The  Colonel  and  his  wife  were 
coming  over  in  state  to  visit  the  Marburys,  and  the  house 
was  full  of  preparation.  To  do  honor  to  such  distin 
guished  people,  the  leading  citizens  of  the  township  were 
invited  to  tea.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  the  gor 
geous  Warchester  coach,  flashing  back  the  yellow  sunlight, 
rolled  up  the  sequestered  lane  of  the  "  Marburys." 

The  whole  company  was  ranged  on  the  porch  to  receive 
the  great  city  folk  quite  in  the  style  of  royalty.  Madame 
Warchester  had  changed  little  during  the  years  that  have 
passed  since  we  saw  her,  divided  between  devout  joy  and 
irrepressible  loathing  on  realizing  that  the  sacred  bone 
and  sinew  of  her  loins  owed  to  one  of  a  proscribed  and 
alien  race  the  life  that  came  from  blood  so  blue  as  the 
Warchester's.  She  was,  if  anything,  more  impatiently  im 
perious  as  she  stepped  into  the  old-fashioned  parlor  that 
Aunt  Selina  opens  only  on  state  occasions — rooms  in  which 
no  member  of  the  house  ever  ventures  to  enter  unless  the 
presence  of  a  very  deeply  honored  visitor  unlocks  the  sacred 


92 


THE  ALIENS. 


portal.  Mrs.  Warchester  is  a  woman  of  too  much  breed* 
ing,  in  spite  of  her  exactions,  to  betray  the  amusement  she 
feels  in  the  primitive  decorations  and  antique  furnishing 
of  Aunt  Selina's  cherished  apartment  of  state.  The  walls 
were  papered  with  the  gentle  shepherds  and  shepherdesses 
that  seemed  beings  of  radiant  beauty  to  our  grandfathers 
and  grandmothers.  The  floors  were  covered  with  a  home 
spun  carpet,  in  alternating  strips  of  the  brightest  green, 
yellow,  purple,  and  what  not,  of  an  incongruous  inhar 
monious  hue,  that  the  unaesthetic  taste  of  that  time 
indulged. 

Upon  the  mantel  gleamed  plaster  figures  of  cupids, 
angels,  and  fauns,  revealing  the  wandering  Italian  image- 
boy — the  only  agent  of  art  in  those  days,  and  the  precursor 
of  the  "  chromo  "  of  to-day.  The  window-shades  of  thick 
green  paper  were  lurid  with  parti-colored  scenic  effects 
that  suggested  earthquakes  and  fiery  hurricanes.  To  add 
to  the  exquisite  incongruity,  in  various  points  of  vantage 
stood  pasty  bunches  of  waxen  flowers,  sedulously  displayed 
under  glass  cases,  to  keep  their  hideous  bloom  from  the 
dust.  This,  too,  in  sight  of  lovely  blossoms  growing  in 
profusion  outside  in  the  garden  and  on  the  lawn. 

Mrs.  Warchester  betrayed  by  no  sign  the  merriment 
this  archaic  interior  caused  her.  She  inquired  affably  for 
the  numerous  relatives  of  Mrs.  Marbury,  affected  a  deep 
interest  in  the  crops,  which  became  an  early  topic,  and, 
by  the  time  the  tea  was  served  in  the  homely  wainscoted 
dining-room,  where  the  cooking  was  likewise  done  in  win 
ter,  she  had  captivated,  so  far  as  that  is  possible  with  such 
awe  inspired,  all  the  modest  matrons  about  the  board  : 
captivated  them  much  as  a  royal  lady  who  graciously, 
wandering  abroad,  condescends  to  rest  informally  in  a 
cotter's  kitchen  to  refresh  herself  with  his  humble  fare. 
The  tea  over,  the  great  lady  withdrew,  begging  that  her 


"  WARS  OF  ROSE  AND  SHAMROCK."          93 

children  might  come  over  and  examine  the  wonders  of 
the  farm. 

The  Colonel,  by  no  means  disconcerted,  presents  his 
children  to  the  rural  group,  who  admired  them  without 
venturing  to  speak  to  them.  A  prettier  girl  than  Mildred, 
his  daughter,  the  dazzled  eyes  of  the  Marbury  magnates 
had  never  seen.  Just  turning  in  her  later  teens,  Mildred 
was  the  ideal  of  the  sensuous  beauty  our  grandsires  used 
to  rave  over,  to  sin  for,  and  fight  for,  and,  God  help  us ! 
die  for.  I  don't  mean  to  make  the  catalogue  of  her  charms, 
but,  if  you  are  satisfied  with  Byron's  picture  of  Gulnare, 
I  have  always  imagined  that  Mildred  Warchester  must  be 
the  exact  counterpart.  Nor  was  her  brother  Darcy  less 
marked  in  his  way.  A  more  comely  youth  than  the  lad  in 
cadet  regimentals — he  had  just  been  graduated  from  West 
Point — could  hardly  have  been  found  west  of  New  York. 

The  Colonel  found  it  very  difficult  to  make  conversa 
tion  with  the  shy  farmers  and  their  still  shyer  wives.  He 
learned  that  there  was  capital  fishing  in  the  wide  water 
of  the  creek  and  good  boating  behind  the  old  mill  near  at 
hand. 

"  We  have  excellent  fishing  hard  by,  and,  if  the  Lieu 
tenant  likes  the  sport,  Denis — a  lad  we  have  with  us — will 
be  glad  to  help  him."  Dr.  Marbury  said  this  cordially, 
looking  around  for  Denis,  who  had  not  been  seen  during 
the  afternoon. 

"  Darcy  will  certainly  take  advantage  of  the  chance, 
for  he  has  been  complaining  that  there  was  no  fishing  near 
Malvern."  With  this  the  great  carriage  was  driven  off, 
the  whole  company  standing  in  a  reverential  attitude  as  it 
rolled  away. 

"A  very  proud  woman,  Mrs.  Warchester,"  said  Aunt 
Selina,  confidentially,  to  her  husband.  "I  never  knew 
such  a  one  who  didn't  come  to  misfortune." 


94 


THE  ALIENS. 


"  What  misfortune  can  come  to  her,  my  dear  ?  She 
has  everything  to  make  the  world  pleasant.  She  has  great 
wealth,  social  pre-eminence,  a  charming  family  ;  her  daugh 
ter  is  beautiful,  her  son  is  a  youth  of  acknowledged  parts. 
What  but  death  can  mar  the  pleasure  of  such  a  one  ? " 

"  I  never  knew  a  proud  woman  yet — I  mean  that  hate 
ful  pride — that  didn't  come  to  sorrow,  and  I  have  a  feel 
ing  that  that  woman  is  inviting  misfortune  upon  herself. 
Do  you  know,  every  minute  she  sat  here  I  thought  I  saw 
an  expression  of  disdain  and  mockery  in  her  eye." 

"  Selina,  you  are  too  old  to  be  notional.  I'm  afraid 
you  are  envious ;  you  think  our  sleepy  sorrels  a  poor 
team  compared  with  the  dashing  bays  that  drag  my  lady 
about,  eh  ? " 

"  If  no  woman  envies  Mrs.  Warchester  more  than  I  do, 
she  must  be  a  very  unhappy  person ;  for,  unless  I'm  mis 
taken,  to  be  envied  and  feared  are  the  ruling  ideas  in  her 
life." 

A  day  or  two  after  this  famous  visit,  Denis,  wandering 
on  the  banks  of  the  brook  toward  Malvern,  was  startled  by 
snatches  of  singing  mingled  with  merry  peals  of  musical 
laughter,  and  presently  there  emerged  very  near  him  a 
vision  of  youth  and  beauty  such  as  he  had  never  dreamed  : 
a  girl  in  white,  clinging  to  a  capricious  pony  that  seemed 
bent  on  throwing  his  pretty  mistress  into  the  deep  mosses 
of  the  wood.  Following  this  vision,  a  young  man  in  care 
less  hunting-dress,  the  collar  thrown  open  sailor-fashion, 
and  a  bundle  of  fishing-rods  under  his  arm,  alternately 
caressing  and  teasing  the  pony.  As  the  couple  spied 
Denis,  laden  with  the  floral  spoils  of  the  forest,  they  called 
simultaneously  to  the  pony  to  halt,  and  then  turned  quite 
calmly  to  question  him.  The  young  man,  advancing  a  few 
steps  and  flinging  his  burden  down,  said,  taking  his  hat 
off: 


"  WARS  OF  ROSE  AND  SHAMROCK,"  95 

"  Perhaps,  my  lad,  you  can  show  me  the  wood-path  to 
Dr.  Marbury's  ?  " 

Denis,  a  good  deal  startled  by  the  spectacle  of  such 
beauty,  admitted  awkwardly  that  he  could  show  the  path, 
but  made  no  motion  toward  doing  it. 

"  Well,  will  you  be  kind  enough  to  do  it  ? "  said  the 
young  man  laughing,  as  he  picked  up  his  rods  and  re 
sumed  his  hat.  "  Knowledge  in  this  world  is  a  universal 
heritage  ;  ask  and  ye  shall  receive.  That's  the  law  :  isn't 
it,  Milly?" 

"Wicked  fellow,  do  you  know  what  you're  quoting? 
I've  no  doubt  you  think  you  are  repeating  a  line  of  Shake 
speare  ;  you  are  not." 

"  Dear  me.  You  don't  mean  to  say  that  the  lore  of 
my  baby  days  is  returning,  and  I  am  getting  my  scripture 
lines  back  ?  Because  if  you  do  I  shall  revive  the  black  in 
my  mother's  hair  by  adopting  the  gown  instead  of  the 
sword  as  a  profession." 

"Are  we  going  to  reach  the  Marburys?  Does  this 
boy  know  the  way?"  interrupted  the  girl  impatiently. 
Denis  had  stood  quite  dumfounded  as  the  foregoing 
badinage  passed  between  the  radiant  figures  illuminating 
the  beechwood.  But,  his  wandering  wits  recalled  by  this 
last  query,  he  hurriedly  set  out,  saying  simply : 

"  If  you  want  to  go  to  Dr.  Marbury's,  please  to  come 
this  way." 

"  Is  it  much  farther,  my  nimble  Narcissus  ? "  Darcy 
asked,  as  Denis,  accustomed  to  the  recesses,  shot  through 
the  shrubs  and  over  the  mosses  like  an  Indian.  He  heard 
the  voice,  but  didn't  distinguish  the  words,  and  waited  in 
quiringly  until  the  questioner  came  up. 

"  Only  a  few  minutes  more  and  we  shall  be  there ;  you 
can  see  the  chimneys  through  the  trees  over  the  orchard 
yonder." 

5 


96  THE  ALIENS. 

When  Denis  had  conducted  the  visitors  to  the  porch, 
he  didn't  know  what  devolved  upon  him.  In  grave  doubt, 
he  called  Norah.  That  young  woman's  voice  rose  in  clear 
soft  tones  from  the  dairy,  and  as  Denis's  call  reached  her 
she  ceased,  and  a  minute  later  her  head  appeared  above 
the  granite  steps. 

"  Here's  somebody  to  see  the  Doctor,"  said  Denis, 
quite  unequal  to  the  novel  occasion. 

Norah  was  hardly  less  agitated  or  at  fault.  Girl-like, 
her  personal  appearance  was  the  first  condition  of  the 
problem.  Had  she  been  called  upon  in  the  beautiful 
French  cambric,  sacred  to  the  most  solemn  festivals,  on 
rare  Sundays  when  missionary  celebrities  crowded  the 
chapel,  she  might  have  confronted  the  young  man,  even 
under  the  trying  ordeal  of  a  better-dressed  girl  in  the  con 
tingency  ;  but  to  appear  before  this  bewilderingly  hand 
some  youth,  with  that  perfectly  arrayed,  dark-eyed  young 
sultana  looking  on  with  curling  lip,  was  more  than  Norah 
could  summon  courage  to  do,  and  she  fled  shamelessly, 
leaving  the  guests  overwhelmed  with  mirth  and  curiosity. 

Denis,  discomfited  by  this  hopeless  outcome  of  his 
first  resource,  looking  piteously  at  the  radiant  girl,  who 
stood  poised  against  the  rail  of  the  porch,  ventured  to 
say: 

"  If  you  will  wait  here  a  minute  I  will  call  Aunt  Se- 
lina."  Without  delaying  for  the  somewhat  surprised  as 
sent,  the  lad  ran  into  the  room,  and,  catching  sight  of  Aunt 
Selina,  deeply  engaged  in  the  repair  of  a  flannel  garment, 
he  cried  in  ungovernable  excitement  : 

"  O  Aunt  Selina,  get  the  parlor-doors  open  quick ; 
there  is  a  most  beautiful  lady  here  to  visit." 

Now,  it  was  the  terror  of  the  parlor  not  being  immedi 
ately  available  that  had  embarrassed  what  the  diplomates 
would  call  Denis's  liberty  of  action  when  he  arrived  at 


"  WARS  OF  ROSE  AND  SHAMROCK."          97 

the  porch  with  the  splendid  visitors.  The  opening  of  the 
parlor  he  associated  with  a  formulated  plan :  the  removal 
of  sundry  sheets  of  paper  from  the  communicating  doors, 
the  rolling  up  of  the  vestibule  shades,  and  a  final  discreet 
touch  of  the  duster  upon  the  crystal  floral  shrines.  Aunt 
Selina,  perplexed  by  the  announcement,  doubted  the  dis 
cretion  of  a  youth  who  suggested  this  family  devotion  so 
recklessly,  and  went  herself  to  the  door  to  verify  the  fact 
before  the  momentous  command  was  given.  Aunt  Selina's 
confusion  and  penitence  were  the  only  satisfaction  that 
Denis  knew  that  disastrous  day. 

"  Mrs.  Marbury,"  said  the  young  man,  as  Aunt  Selina, 
quite  prostrated,  confronted  the  strangers,  "  we  came  over 
with  the  compliments  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Warchester, 
who  send  you  these."  He  handed  the  trembling  lady  a 
packet.  "  My  mother  begged  me  to  say  that  we  should 
be  no  trouble  to  you."  Then,  as  if  the  identity  of  himself 
and  sister  might  aid  the  puzzled  old  lady  in  understanding 
the  situation  better,  he  added,  "  You  may  remember  me  :  I 
am  Darcy  Warchester,  and  this  is  my  sister.  We  are  going 
to  accept  your  kind  invitation  through  my  father,  and  spend 
the  day  in  your  woods,  if  we  can  manage  to  get  some  one 
for  a  time  to  show  us  the  fishing-places." 

Aunt  Selina  was  quite  as  fluttered  before  this  bright- 
eyed,  composed  young  fellow,  standing  hat  in  hand  under 
the  yellow  sunshine,  as  she  had  been  with  his  mother.  She 
brought  chairs  to  the  porch  in  trembling  discomfiture,  not 
quite  knowing  what  to  do. 

"Certainly,  Mr.  Darcy — Mr.  Warchester.  You  shall 
have  Denis  to  take  you  all  over  the  meadows ;  he  knows 
the  places  better  than  the  Doctor  himself."  Then,  going 
to  the  door  precipitately,  she  called  Norah  to  make  the 
parlor  ready. 

"  Oh,  dear  no,  Mrs.  Marbury,  we  can't  think  of  going 


98  THE  ALIENS. 

in.  We  are  come  for  a  jaunt  in  the  woods.  My  brother 
thinks  that  he  can  help  Major  Waffles's  table  by  a  stock 
of  fish,  and  has  promised  me  a  prize  if  I  will  sit  with  him 
while  he  tries  his  green  hand.  Later  in  the  evening  papa 
is  coming  over,  and  then  we  hope  to  have  a  chance  to 
make  friends  of  our  father's  friends." 

All  the  mother's  grand  air,  without  the  mother's  super 
cilious  condescension,  was  in  the  girl's  manner,  which  from 
one  so  young  lent  the  deliberate  phrases  a  certain  charm 
that  Aunt  Selina  yielded  to  with  the  ready  credulity  of  old 
age,  not  much  skilled  in  the  physiognomy  of  features  or 
character. 

Darcy,  though  a  little  nettled,  laughed  good-humoredly. 
They  were  soon  in  the  deep  woods,  Denis  running  fleetly 
in  advance,  and  gallantly  holding  the  young  trees  back 
while  Mildred  passed  through  laughing.  He  brought 
them  to  a  mossy  delve  where  the  banks  on  one  side  sloped 
far  up  into  a  thicket  of  tangled  briers  covered  with  hon 
eysuckle.  The  sunlight  split  into  soft,  arrowy  lines  upon 
the  water  as  it  gurgled  into  a  wide,  deep  pool.  Here 
Darcy  adjusted  his  tackle  and  fell  to  fishing,  while  Mil 
dred,  enthroned  on  a  green  mound  of  moss,  took  out  a 
book  and  pretended  to  read.  Darcy's  luck  put  his  sister's 
prophecies  to  shame,  for,  thanks  to  the  fat  bait  provided 
by  Denis,  the  shy  pickerel  bit  greedily,  and  were  soon 
landed  on  the  sward  in  a  heap.  At  the  beginning  Darcy 
imposed  silence  on  his  sister,  and  Denis  wouldn't  presume 
to  obtrude  his  prattle  upon  such  grand  people.  He 
sat  at  a  distance,  admiring  the  gay  hunting-jacket  and 
the  lovely  girl  reclining  indolently  upon  the  honeysuckles 
and  dog-wood  he  had  spread  for  her.  The  afternoon 
waned,  and  the  fisherman,  satisfied  with  his  prowess, 
encouraged  the  boy  to  talk.  Denis  was  ready  enough, 
and  soon  had  his  guests  shouting  with  laughter  over  his 


WARS  OF  ROSE  AND  SHAMROCK." 


99 


droll  accounts  of  the  city  people  that  came  out  to  fish  and 
hunt. 

It  was  long  after  the  lad's  supper  hour,  and  Darcy  had 
just  proposed  going,  when  Norah  came  bashfully  into  the 
little  dell,  saying  that  Aunt  Selina  bade  them  to  supper. 
Darcy  looked  in  admiring  surprise  at  the  girl  as  she  stood 
blushing  before  him.  She  was  the  image  of  her  dead 
mother.  The  same  soft,  mournful,  tender  gray  eyes  ;  the 
same  changing  tints  in  the  transparent  cheeks  ;  the  same 
delicate  mold  of  limb  and  form — a  living  Murillo  framed 
in  the  luxuriant  foliage  of  the  July  wood.  Darcy  stood 
transfixed  and  Mildred  opened  her  lustrous  eyes  in  sur 
prise.  The  girl,  not  comprehending  the  meaning  of  it, 
flamed  crimson,  and  turned  in  an  agony  of  shame  to  Denis. 
Mildred  was  the  first  to  recover  self-possession,  and  said 
sweetly : 

"  Ah,  thank  you,  my  good  girl.  Mrs.  Marbury  is  too 
kind ;  we  couldn't  think  of  disturbing  her.  We  should 
worry  mamma  if  we  remained.  Please  tell  your — tell  Mrs. 
Marbury — " 

"  1  say,  Milly,  if  these  people  have  made  supper  ready, 
we  should  go  and  eat.  It  wouldn't  be  manners  to  fly  off 
in  this  unceremonious  way.  I  vote  to  go,  and  they'll 
understand  at  the  hotel  that  we've  stayed  to  supper." 

They  talked  as  if  the  girl  and  boy  before  them — almost 
their  own  age — were  some  sort  of  wood-spirits,  incapable 
of  comprehending  the  rather  disdainful  estimate  of  the 
social  exigency.  Mildred  allowed  herself  to  be  persuaded, 
and  the  group  set  off  for  the  house,  Denis  carrying  the 
basket  of  fish,  which  Darcy  had  at  first  vetoed  indolently. 
He  couldn't  keep  his  eyes  off  the  vision  in  a  high-necked 
dress  and  simple  linen  cuffs  and  collar.  Her  movements 
were  willowy  and  graceful,  and  the  youth  wondered  if  this 
could  really  be  the  draggled  little  reddish-haired  child  he 


100  THE  ALIENS. 

had  seen  in  the  emigrant  group  in  the  packet  so  many 
years  before.  She  fled  swiftly  and  silently,  never  vent 
uring  to  look  at  the  brother  and  sister  or  address  them  a 
single  word.  Two  or  three  times  Darcy  made  a  pretext 
to  question  her ;  but  she  glanced  at  him  in  startled  wonder, 
surges  of  color  covering  her  cheeks  and  neck,  and  looked 
appealingly  to  Denis  to  make  answer,  which  that  youth 
was  very  ready  to  do,  the  garrulity  of  his  race  being  de 
veloped  in  him  to  the  fullest  measure. 

They  found  the  table  laid  out  in  Aunt  Selina's  snowi 
est  linen,  with  the  rare  blue  delf  that  came  only  when  great 
occasions  warranted  its  use.  To  the  no  small  surprise  of 
brother  and  sister,  the  boy  and  girl  took  their  places  at  the 
table,  for  in  those  days  the  "help"  were  considered  part 
of  the  family,  even  in  the  most  pretentious  country  houses. 
Darcy  was  hungry,  and  delighted  the  hostess  by  asking 
ample  "  helpings  "  from  the  dainty  muffins,  the  grilled  fish, 
and  the  wild  strawberries  that  the  Doctor  had,  after  infinite 
experiments,  reared  in  his  garden.  Two  or  three  times 
Darcy  sent  Norah  from  the  table,  under  pretext  of  re 
plenishing  the  silver  tea-pot  or  the  swiftly  dwindling  muf 
fins,  by  glances  that  were  more  ardent  than  the  poor  child 
was  accustomed  to.  After  supper,  which  was  soon  over, 
as  the  guests  did  most  of  the  talking,  and  found  the  effort 
a  burden,  the  Doctor's  two-seated  wagon  was  driven  to  the 
gate,  and  the  visitors,  with  profuse  thanks,  were  carried 
away  :  Darcy  remaining  behind,  as  his  sister  was  lifted  into 
the  vehicle,  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  Norah,  who,  with  a  large 
green-and-white-checked  apron  that  masked  her  like  a 
Quakeress,  passed  from  the  kitchen  to  the  dairy  with  foam 
ing  pails  of  milk  and  piles  of  pans.  Denis  rode  the  pony, 
and  prattled  artlessly  as  they  drove  over  the  tranquil  coun 
try  roads,  giving  the  history  of  every  farm-house  they 
passed,  the  number  of  its  inmates,  and  the  acres  worked. 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO.  ioi 

Milly  listened,  rather  distraught,  to  these  commonplace  de 
tails,  but  Darcy  encouraged  the  lad,  rather,  I  suspect,  to 
save  himself  the  effort  of  talking  than  because  the  histories 
interested  him,  for  he  surprised  Denis  several  times  by 
asking  the  same  question,  and  assenting  gravely  when  he 
was  expected  to  say  "  no." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A    TALE   FROM    BOCCACCIO. 

"  DARCY,  me  dear,  have  ye  been  bewitched  by  the  ban 
shee  ? "  asked  Lady  Molly  one  morning  on  the  shaded 
veranda,  as  the  lad  stood  carelessly  on  the  steps  below  her, 
equipped,  with  gun  and  fishing-rod,  for  a  jaunt  in  the 
Marbury  woods.  "  Ye  may  as  well  tell  me  yer  secret,  me 
bye,  for  I  know  well  it's  not  the  fish  in  the  Doctor's  brooks, 
nor  the  birds  on  his  branches,  that  coax  a  foine  bye  like 
you  to  forsake  meself  and  the  gurls  here  to  pass  yer  morn 
ings  in  the  bush  !  Tell  us  now,  ye  young  vilyain,  is  there 
a  pretty  colleen  making  soft  eyes  to  ye  beyant  ? "  and  Lady 
Molly  lowered  her  voice  and  nodded  over  her  shoulder 
toward  the  misty  fringe  of  wood  that  outlined  the  Marbury 
farm. 

Darcy  laughed  and  blushed,  and  Lady  Molly  held  up 
a  warning  finger : 

"  Remember,  me  lad,  that  madame  has  a  princess  in  her 
oi  for  the  son  of  the  Warchesters,  and  ye'll  do  well  to  keep 
a  hard  heart  under  yer  waistcoat." 

"  No,  Lady  Molly,  it's  the  fish  and  the  birds  that  make 
Marbury  enticing.  Do  you  think  I  could  leave  you  if  it 


102  THE  ALIENS, 

were  a  question  of  the  heart  ? "  and  the  young  fellow 
laughed  good-humoredly  as  his  gay  monitress  shook  her 
head  incredulously. 

"Ah,  me  dear,  I  know  well  what  byes  are!  Sure, 
wasn't  I  giving  me  own  heart  right  and  left  when  I  was 
your  age  ?  And  where's  the  gurl  could  stand  out  ag'in 
yer  soft  ways  and  yer  wicked  blue  eyes?  God  bless 
ye!" 

Darcy  took  a  step  upward  and  lifted  the  soft,  dimpled 
hand  to  his  lips,  saying  gallantly  : 

"  I'm  going  to  reserve  all  my  wickedness  until  you're 
a  lovely  widow,  and  then  see  what  the  eyes  may  be  able 
to  do." 

"  Hah !  as  for  that,  patience  isn't  in  the  Warchester 
blood,  and  I'd  be  old  enough  and  gray  enough  if  I  put 
trust  in  yer  soft  blarney,"  and  she  turned  to  salute  her 
lord,  who  came  from  the  stables  surrounded  by  a  score  of 
yelping,  frisking  setters. 

Darcy  strode  off,  laughing  softly.  He  liked  Lady 
Molly,  and  fell  very  readily  into  her  willful  banter :  per 
haps  as  much  to  tease  his  mother  as  anything  else,  for  the 
sum  of  the  lady's  original  hatred  to  the  Irish  girl  was  in 
creased  by  a  suit  the  father  had  instituted  against  the 
Warchester  estate,  which,  if  won,  would  clip  the  family 
of  its  most  valuable  water  privileges  on  the  river-front. 
But  the  Colonel's  beseeching  and  Darcy's  championship 
could  not  bring  concession  from  the  intolerant  patrician. 
The  law,  and  the  law  alone,  should  decide  the  contest, 
though  mutual  friends  had  broadly  hinted  that  Lord  Poult- 
ney  would  intervene  to  adjust  the  feud  if  madame  would 
lower  the  scepter  to  Lady  Molly.  It  had  grown  irksome 
to  Darcy  to  witness  the  forays  in  the  two  camps,  and  it 
was  perhaps  to  avoid  taking  a  pronounced  part  in  hostili 
ties  that  of  late  he  had  passed  much  of  his  time  in  the 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO. 


103 


Marbury  dales.  Certainly,  for  a  young  fellow  conceded 
high  sway  in  all  the  gayeties  of  the  court  circles,  the  lad 
displayed  a  strange  indifference  to  the  allurements  of  Mal- 
vern;  even  the  dance,  where  his  tall  figure  glanced  so 
graciously  in  the  stately  minuet  and  the  Scotch  reel,  was 
no  longer  the  delight  to  him  it  had  been ;  and  the  girls, 
who  had,  in  the  early  days  of  the  season,  counted  on  his 
strong  arm,  were  piqued  to  note  his  persistent  absence 
from  the  scene. 

In  those  days  early  rising  was  part  of  the  regime  of 
watering-place  life,  and  the  young  man  hastened  from  the 
chattering  groups  at  the  breakfast-table  without  a  care 
for  the  dawdlers  who  gathered  on  the  sunny  verandas  to 
smoke  and  gossip.  When  he  reached  the  brook,  Denis 
could  be  seen  or  heard  cheerily  at  work  in  the  fields,  and 
at  such  times  Darcy  assuaged  his  thirst  at  the  dairy,  or 
rested  from  the  fatigue  of  his  long  jaunt  in  Aunt  Selina's 
big  rocking-chair.  The  awe  at  first  felt  by  the  family 
soon  wore  off,  for  he  was  very  modest  and  simple,  full  of 
stories  and  boyish  gayety,  and  seemed  so  thoroughly  to 
enjoy  the  cool  corner  of  the  ingle  nook,  that  the  good 
housewife  was  thoroughly  won.  Even,  Norah,  in  time,  was 
brought  to  reply  timidly  to  casual  questions  addressed  her, 
without  those  mantling  blushes  that  the  youth  thought  so 
bewitching.  He  became  very  much  interested  in  the  dairy 
work,  and  very  often  in  the  early  morning  appeared  on 
the  cool,  moss-grown  steps  with  his  gun  on  his  shoulder, 
the  dew  glistening  on  his  raiment  like  a  hamadryad :  at 
least  Norah  would  have  said  hamadryad  had  she  been 
the  reader  that  Denis  was,  who  had  at  his  fingers'  ends  all 
the  personages  of  mythic  lore.  He  accommodated  him 
self  with  good-natured  ease  to  the  cool  stones  as  a  seat, 
and  watched  the  little  maid  as  she  deftly  transferred  the 
masses  of  yellow  butter  into  little  spheres  for  packing. 


IO4 


THE  ALIENS. 


The  churn,  worked  by  a  simple  mechanism  of  Denis's 
fashioning,  gave  him  endless  concern.  The  cascade  that 
turned  the  little  wheel  did  not,  he  found,  give  it  sufficient 
power,  and  in  a  little  while,  through  his  superior  training 
in  physics,  the  work  was  done  with  less  friction,  and  the 
small  water-power  more  equally  distributed.  Norah 
watched  his  labors  with  divided  heart,  but  when,  thanks 
to  his  mastery  of  engineering  at  the  academy,  he  had 
perfected  his  hydraulic  force,  she  owned  that  it  was  far 
more  useful  than  Denis's  crude  planning.  The  Doctor 
himself  pronounced  it  a  discovery  in  mechanics,  and 
sagely  prophesied  that  its  author  would  make  a  mark  in 
the  world. 

So  it  soon  came  that  the  days  that  Darcy  didn't  appear 
at  the  farm  seemed  long  and  without  event.  He  discussed 
politics  and  science  with  the  Doctor,  and  was  full  of  en 
tertaining  stories  of  the  great  city  world  with  Aunt  Selina. 
His  ingenuity  was  equal  to  repairing  a  defect  in  the  old 
lady's  long-disused  spectacles,  and  she  soon  found  herself 
going  to  him  as  a  resource  in  the  complexities  of  the  do 
mestic  regime.  Now  and  then,  under  one  pretext  or  an 
other,  he  would  send  Denis  to  Malvern  when  it  was  time 
to  go  to  the  pasture  for  the  cows,  and  he  would  meet 
Norah  in  the  wooded  lane  as  she  came  to  let  down  the 
bars.  Sometimes  it  was  to  give  her  a  story-book,  the  gist  of 
which  he  had  already  told  her ;  sometimes  to  give  her  a 
simple  trinket  to  put  on  her  neck  or  arms.  Once  he 
slipped  a  pretty  ring  on  her  finger,  and,  as  she  raised  her 
soft  eyes  in  surprise  and  joy,  he  bent  over  and  touched 
his  mouth  to  her  lips — pressing  her  to  him  in  a  glowing, 
passionate  embrace.  She  stood  trembling  and  astonished. 
He  could  not  meet  her  eyes,  full  of  perplexed  questioning 
and  trouble. 

"  Silly  Norah,  why  shouldn't  your  true  love  kiss  you  ? 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO. 


105 


All  true  lovers  kiss  their  sweethearts,"  and  he  held  the 
lovely  little  face  up  with  the  palm  of  his  hand  under  the 
pink  chin. 

He  tried  to  catch  the  liquid  softness  of  the  fascinating 
brogue — a  sort  of  trill  in  voice,  rather  than  the  misplacing 
of  vowel  quantities — that  lingered  in  the  girl's  tones,  and 
laughed  pleasantly  as  the  flames  of  rose  and  pink  came 
and  went  in  her  cheeks.  But  she  was  flushed,  and  shrank 
as  she  met  his  eye  now,  and  darted  away  among  the  cows 
as  they  stopped  to  browse  in  the  lush  green  of  the  corners 
of  the  rail-fence.  He  stood  and  laughed  a  low  musical 
laugh,  and  followed  her  flying  figure  with  admiring  won 
der.  Her  innocent  coyness  enchanted  him.  At  West 
Point  he  had  courted  and  caressed  the  belle  of  the  "  col 
lege  widows  "  without  scruple,  for  the  little  coquette  had 
herself  given  the  invitation  to  the  combat,  and  he  had 
borne  her  off  from  a  score  of  rivals.  But  there  was  no 
joy  in  the  pursuit  such  as  this  little  Murillo  maiden  gave 
him.  To  him,  as  he  expressed  it,  her  "  guilelessness  and 
trust  were  epic."  It  was  sweeter  to  look  into  the  deep  un 
troubled  eyes,  filled  with  wonder  and  love,  than  to  listen 
to  all  the  artful  confessions  of  the  "  Point "  widow.  What 
his  imprudence  would  lead  to  he  never  seriously  asked 
himself.  He  was  not  of  an  age  to  think  of  consequences. 
The  pursuit  was  an  idyllic  episode,  that  had  at  first  lured 
him  by  its  novelty  and  then  swirled  him  onward  by  an 
impulse  he  never  gave  himself  the  trouble  of  analyzing. 
Norah  was  made  to  love,  and,  as  he  had  nothing  else  to  do, 
why  should  he  not  play  Prince  Charming  to  this  dreamy 
damosel  who  transformed  this  pastoral  scene  into  Virgil- 
ian  romance  ? 

At  twenty  we  are  not  apt  to  think  much  of  conse 
quences.  At  that  age  there  is  no  sharp  monitor  in  the 
breast  to  warn  us  that  what  we  do  leads  to  other  doing 


106  THE  ALIENS. 

and  other  ends  than  the  mere  joy  of  the  moment.  There 
is  no  logical  premonition  in  our  madness.  We  think,  if 
we  think  at  all,  that  the  rose  may  bloom,  and  become  a 
bud  again,  to  the  end  of  the  romance.  Was  not  this  the 
perennial  teaching  of  the  Nature  about  them?  Under 
their  very  eyes,  the  purple  doves  were  cooing  and  rilling 
the  alders  with  the  soft  twitter  of  their  mating ;  and  the 
primroses  were  nodding  and  nestling  to  each  other;  the 
robins  shrilling  in  the  soft  complaint  of  fragile  amours. 
But  the  girl's  troubled  flight  had  for  the  first  time  stirred 
the  consciousness  of  the  heedless  boy  with  a  vague  sense 
of  responsibility.  A  vision  of  the  sorrowing  mother,  as  he 
had  once  seen  her  wandering  over  the  Holly  Hills,  came 
back  to  him,  and  he  dimly  associated  this  childish  image 
with  the  sad  figure.  This  made  him  pensive,  and  he 
wandered  silently  on,  switching  the  caraway-tops  with  his 
riding-whip  distractedly.  When  at  last  he  looked  for 
Norah  she  was  not  near  him.  He  turned,  and  saw  her 
coming  after  him,  routing  the  cows  as  they  lingered  in  the 
fence-corners.  Her  face  was  flushed,  and  her  eyes  glis 
tened  as  she  reached  him.  She  had  slipped  over  the  fence 
near  the  brook,  and  brought  him  a  nosegay  of  lilies  of  the 
valley.  As  she  held  them  timidly  to  him,  he  took  her 
two  hands  and  drew  her  toward  him,  and  again  his  hot 
lips  met  her  mouth  to  stifle  her  protest  while  he  held  her 
in  a  dreamy,  restful  embrace.  It  was  to  be  the  last. 

"  Dear  little  Norah  !  what  a  sweet  witch  you  are,  do 
you  know  that  ?  " 

She  fled  from  him  again,  startled  by  his  rapturous 
movement,  and  turned  her  head  away,  burning  with  shyness 
and  wonder.  When  they  reached  the  gate  to  the  farm-yard 
he  stopped,  and  said  tenderly : 

"Good-by,  Norah;  I'm  going  to  the  city  to-morrow, 
and  I  sha'n't  see  you  again  for  I  don't  know  how  long." 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO. 


lO/ 


She  came  quite  close  to  him  now,  her  eyes  dilating  with 
surprise  and  trouble. 

"O  Mr.  Darcy,  won't  I  see  you  again,  at  all,  at 
all  ?  " 

"  Why,  of  course  you  will,  silly  Norah ;  only  I  must  be 
away  perhaps  a  week,  and  you  must  be  a  good  Norah,  and 
have  all  your  blushes  and  prettiness  when  I  come  back. 
You  must  read  the  "  Paul  and  Virginia  "  I  brought  you, 
and  the  "  Arabian  Nights,"  and  the  verses  of  Mrs.  Sigour- 
ney.  Girls  ought  to  read  these,  and  Denny  will  explain 
them  to  you,  instead  of  me.  I  will  bring  you  some  more 
books,  perhaps,  if  you're  very  good.  I  will  let  you  have 
the  Byron  that  you  read  so  much  of  in  your  poet  Moore. 
It's  not  the  right  sort  of  reading  for  girls,  my  mother 
says,  but  I'll  mark  what  you're  to  read  and  what  to  skip. 
Do  you  think  you  could  be  a  wise  girl  and  do  as  I  bid 
you  ? " 

"Ah  yes,  Mr.  Darcy,  indeed,  indeed  I  shall.  I  would 
do  anything  in  the  world  you  bid  me  !  " 

"  Well,  then,  you  bewildering  witch,  come  here  under 
this  hazel-bush,  and  bid  me  good-by.  Put  your  arms 
about  my  neck  and  kiss  me  as  if  you  were  not  afraid  of 
me,  and  say,  '  Dear  Darcy,  I  love  you ! ' ' 

Ah  !  Darcy  was  not  as  wise  as  Solomon  ;  the  ways  of 
a  man  and  a  maid  were  not  definable  to  him.  A  few 
minutes  before  he  had  snatched  the  last  kiss  from  these 
demure  lips.  But  he  was  true  to  the  form  of  the  word. 
What  would  you  have  ?  The  spirit  of  the  vow  was 
broken  by  the  girl !  It  was  she  who  now  held  up  the 
rose-leaf  lips  that  were  to  close  and  be  a  bud  again  so  soon 
as  he  had  drunk  the  intoxicating  purity  of  their  bloom. 
He  wound  the  supple,  shapely  arms  about  his  neck,  and 
stood  under  the  branches  looking  down  into  those  be 
wildering,  appealing  eyes — lip  to  lip 


108  THE  ALIENS. 

The  cows  had  straggled  into  the  barn-yard,  and  began 
to  low  plaintively  for  the  milking-pails,  and  the  girl  started 
in  mechanical  response.  Denny  came  out  of  the  dairy 
with  pail  and  stool,  singing  cheerily,  and  she,  without  a 
word,  fled  along  the  fence,  sheltered  by  the  gooseberry- 
hedge,  to  join  him.  Darcy  turned,  sauntered  back  along 
the  lane  reflectively,  and,  coming  to  the  chestnut  copse 
where  his  horse  was  cropping  the  rich  grass,  mounted,  and 
rode  away  to  Malvern,  turning  in  the  saddle  to  take  a 
last  glimpse  of  the  pretty  figure  he  could  see  moving 
among  the  cows.  It  was  a  final  farewell  he  meant,  and  he 
sighed  in  the  consciousness  of  a  young  St.  Anthony  flying 
temptation,  and  inaudibly  asking  his  conscience  to  mark 
his  heroic  mold  and  stoic  self-denial ! 

"  Nody  Pody,  ye  must  have  been  with  the  fairies,  yer 
step's  so  light  and  yer  eyes  so  bright,"  said  Denny,  won- 
deringly,  as  he  caught  sight  of  his  sister's  flushed  cheeks 
and  sparkling  eyes  when  she  took  a  seat  on  a  single-legged 
stool  near  him  to  milk  the  mottled  heifer. 

"  O  Denny,  dear,  I  had  to  go  to  the  far  end  of  the 
beech-meadow  to  fetch  the  cows  ;  they  go  farther  and 
farther  every  day,  though  the  grass  is  greener  in  the 
brook-field." 

"  I'll  put  up  the  bars  in  the  beech-meadow,  if  you  like. 
It's  too  far  for  ye  to  go  in  yer  thin  shoon,"  said  the 
brother,  considerately. 

"  O  Denny,  dear,  not  for  the  world  ;  and  Aunt  Selina 
says  it  does  me  good,  and  I'm  sure  it  does,"  cries  the 
artless  Chloe,  bethinking  her  of  some  one  that  makes  the 
beech-meadows  all  too  short  a  jaunt. 

Between  themselves  the  boy  and  girl  kept  up  the  ac 
cent  and  form  of  the  fatherland,  an  indulgence  that 
brought  shocked  remonstrance  from  the  Doctor  and  Aunt 
Selina,  who  saw  nothing  of  the  picturesque  in  this  archaic 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO.  109 

taste.  Denis  was  a  natural  linguist,  and  at  twelve,  oy 
the  Doctor's  friendly  though  sadly  limited  aid,  he  had 
mastered  the  elements  of  Latin,  and  read  with  some 
readiness  "./Esop's  Fables,"  to  the  no  small  pride  of 
the  family  and  wonder  of  his  comrades.  As  for  Norah, 
she  not  only  adored  her  brother  with  the  deep  adoration 
of  her  race,  she  thought  him  the  cleverest  boy  in  all  the 
township — not  even  excepting  the  brilliant  and  dazzling 
Darcy,  who,  though  shining  in  conversation,  was  no 
match  for  Denis  in  drollery  and  narrative  faculty.  Denis, 
too,  knew  every  plant  in  the  fields,  every  bush  in  the  wood, 
down  to  the  smallest  blossom  ;  he  could  tell  when  the 
flowers  would  peep  out  under  the  strawberry-leaves,  when 
the  tadpoles  would  come  in  the  green  pond,  when  the 
butterflies  would  leave  their  swathing  in  the  spring,  and 
the  turtle  nest  in  the  black  currants.  He  was  master  of 
many  woodland  lores  that  filled  Norah's  nights  with  de 
light,  as  the  children  sat  together  in  the  lavender-and-mint- 
perfumed  chamber  under  the  attic,  where  they  talked  over 
their  simple  lives,  and  wondered  vaguely  what  the  future 
had  in  store  for  them.  In  these  moonlight  prattlings  the 
story  always  came  to  the  same  end.  Denis  was  to  earn 
money  and  go  to  college.  Then  he  was  to  become  a 
famous  lawyer,  like  his  uncle  Phil  Collamore,  of  Belfast ; 
and  then  Norah  was  to  be  a  fine  lady,  and  marry  the  most 
splendid  young  fellow  in  all  the  land  !  Of  late  Norah  had 
brought  the  vaticinations  to  an  end  when  her  own  part  in 
the  fanciful  play  came,  and,  to  the  boy's  surprise,  kissed 
him  and  went  into  her  own  room,  sometimes  even  closing 
the  door  when  she  thought  he  had  fallen  asleep. 

That  night  she  was  especially  distraught  and  irritating. 
She  forgot  all  the  ^Esop  tales  in  the  most  shameless  way. 
She  couldn't  even  remember  the  second  declension,  which, 
after  infinite  pains,  Denny  had  taught  her.  The  mishaps 


1 10  THE  ALIENS. 

of  the  ass  and  the  hay  didn't  move  her  to  a  smile ;  they 
had  before  thrown  her  into  merriment  repressed  only  to  a 
pitch  which  should  not  reach  the  ears  of  the  kind  Doctor 
and  Aunt  Selina,  who  thought  the  conspirators  asleep  by 
nine  o'clock,  to  be  ready  to  rise  with  the  sun.  It  was  in 
vain  that  Denny  displayed  his  most  fascinating  acquisition 
in  the  Latin  tongue.  Norah  was  listless  and  unheeding, 
and  he  got  up  and  went  to  bed  cross  and  aggrieved.  He 
heard  her  place  a  chair  at  the  window,  and  he  knew  she 
was  sitting  looking  out  over  the  moonlit  orchard,  and 
once  or  twice  he  heard  her  sigh  softly.  He  was  just  doz 
ing  into  a  dream  of  sly  foxes  inveigling  the  credulous 
crows,  when  he  heard  the  door  closed  !  Perhaps  she  was 
saying  her  prayers,  and  he  fell  away  into  profound  slum 
ber,  in  which  a  dreadful  vision  came  to  him. 

He  saw  Norah  in  the  wood  sleeping,  a  beautiful  snake 
gliding  toward  her,  its  eyes  emitting  a  lambent  flame  that  hid 
the  crawling  folds  as  they  wound  along  through  the  grass 
and  leaves.  He  shouted  in  warning ;  but,  as  she  opened  her 
eyes  languidly,  there  was  no  terror  in  them  as  the  monster 
drew  nearer  and  nearer,  and  coiled  about  her  arm,  darting 
its  head  toward  her  face.  Then  the  snake  was  suddenly 
transformed  into  a  youth,  laughing  and  plucking  flowers, 
looking  boldly  in  Norah's  eyes,  and  caressing  her  ten 
derly.  Then  the  handsome  youth  was  gone,  and  the 
snake  lay  coiled  and  menacing,  and  Denis  found  voice 
and  movement.  He  shouted  a  troubled  cry  of  fear  and 
warning,  and  was  awake,  sitting  up  in  his  bed.  There 
was  a  sudden  crash  in  Norah's  room,  and  leaping  from 
the  bed  he  flung  open  the  door.  The  moonlight  streamed 
in  the  windows,  outlining  every  object  in  the  room.  Norah 
stood  by  the  tall  dresser,  a  candle  lying  at  her  feet,  extin 
guished.  He  saw  a  gleaming  object  on  her  finger,  and 
three  or  four  books  open  in  a  line  under  the  tilted  mirror. 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO.  1 1  j 

Her  back  was  to  the  window,  and  he  could  not  catch  the 
expression  of  her  face. 

"  O  Norah,  dear,  what  was  it  ?  I  had  such  a  fright. 
What  are  ye  doing  up  till  this  time  of  night  ?  And  you 
wouldn't  listen  to  ^Esop — " 

"It's  nothing,  Denny.  I  couldn't  sleep,  and  I  was 
reading  the  books."  She  was  agitated  and  vexed ;  he 
could  tell  that  by  her  voice. 

"What  books,  Norah?  What's  that  ye  have  on  yer 
finger  ? " 

"  Never  mind,  Denny.  I  hear  some  one  moving  down 
stairs.  We'll  be  scolded  in  the  morning.  Go  to  bed.  I'm 
going  myself.  I'm  very  tired,"  and  she  gently  pushed  him 
into  his  own  room,  and  closed  the  door  again.  There 
were  no  locks  nor  bolts  on  the  Marbury  doors.  She 
moved  a  high-backed  wooden  chair  softly  against  it,  and, 
picking  up  the  candle,  reached  her  arm  out  of  the  window 
to  strike  the  sulphur  match  on  the  brick  outside,  that  it 
might  not  resound  in  the  stillness  of  the  chamber.  The 
thick  cotton  wick  spluttered  feebly  in  the  broken  tallow, 
giving  out  a  dismal  glimmer  in  the  transparent  light  of  the 
moon.  Then  she  took  the  books,  one  by  one,  wrapped 
them  carefully  in  bits  of  waste  linen,  and  put  them  in  her 
little  brown  leather  trunk.  She  lingered  before  the  mirror, 
where  the  glitter  of  the  ring  might  reflect  itself  in  the  dim 
old  glass  framed  in  pink  dimity.  There  was  none  of  the 
craning,  posing  vanity  of  her  years  or  sex  in  the  rapt 
gaze  of  her  large  deep  eyes.  On  her  own  fair  face  she 
hardly  cast  a  glance.  It  was  upon  the  bit  of  gold — his 
gold ;  she  let  her  eyes  rest  on  these  objects  almost 
timidly. 

He  had  touched  it.  It  had  been  in  his  waistcoat-pocket, 
near  his  heart — the  heart  that  she  had  felt  beating  against 
her  own  !  She  held  the  ring  to  her  lips,  kissing  it  softly. 


112  THE  ALIENS. 

But,  because  her  face  gave  him  pleasure,  she  looked  at  the 
profile  which  the  sputtering  light  of  the  candle  only  enabled 
her  to  catch  vaguely.  Her  tawny  masses  of  hair  flashed 
back  limpid  rills  of  gold  in  the  wavering  light ;  it  fell  over 
her  bare  shoulder  and  white  neck :  since  he  thought  it 
was  beautiful,  she  thought  well  of  it  too.  But  of  personal 
vanity  in  its  possession  she  felt  none.  Poor  child  !  the 
aesthetic  faculty  was  not  hers  in  the  sense  of  defining  the 
thing  she  found  beautiful.  She  had  no  basis  of  compari 
son,  and,  without  a  standard,  Dante  himself  could  not 
have  painted  the  luster  of  Beatrice's  beauty.  But  he  had 
told  her  she  must  read,  and  make  her  mind  as  beautiful  as 
her  face.  So  she  sat  at  the  open  window,  the  moonbeams 
illuminating  the  book,  and  gave  her  eyes  to  the  pages  of 
"  Paul  and  Virginia,"  while  her  mind  was  far  away  in  the 
beech-meadow,  and  a  voice  that  was  not  Paul's  whispered 
in  her  ear.  The  old  cuckoo-clock  in  the  "entry,"  as  the 
vestibule  was  descriptively  called  in  those  days,  struck 
one,  and  she  started  in  affright.  She  would  have  scant 
rest  if  she  didn't  go  to  bed,  for  she  never  slept  later  than 
four  in  summer.  She  could  keep  the  ring  on  her  finger 
until  morning,  and  then  put  it  with  her  other  treasures, 
and  with  the  little  circlet  pressed  to  her  lips  she  fell  into 
a  troubled  sleep. 

The  birds  interrupted  her  drowsy  reveries  three  hours 
later,  and  it  was  time  to  be  about  at  her  work,  while  her 
eyes  were  heavy  with  the  sleep  she  had  not  felt  during  the 
blissful  solitude  of  the  night.  Two  weeks  passed ;  she  saw 
nothing  more  of  Darcy.  She  heard  the  Doctor  say  that 
the  family  had  gone  back  to  Warchester,  and  her  little 
heart  grew  heavy ;  for  now  it  was  plain  the  beautiful  vision 
would  come  no  more.  Denny  wondered  at  her  listlessness 
and  preoccupation.  Before  this  she  was  as  clever  in  bird 
or  bush  lore  as  himself,  or  seemed  to  him  to  be,  for  her 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO.  113 

ready  credulity  and  implicit  belief  in  his  oracular  sayings 
were  to  him  evidence  that  her  assents  were  based  on 
knowledge,  just  as  the  pundit  in  science  holds  the  appre 
ciative  critic  a  man  of  parts  and  equal  acquisition  who 
does  not  take  the  trouble  to  contradict  him.  But  she 
went  no  more  with  Denny  now  in  the  long  twilight  rovings 
she  had  loved,  or,  if  she  did,  she  was  so  distracted  and 
heedless  that  he  was  vexed  and  ill-humored  when  they 
came  back  to  the  unlighted  house.  One  day  Doctor  Mar- 
bury  bade  Norah  get  ready  to  go  to  the  city  with  him 
next  day. 

Denny  found  a  singular  alteration  in  her  that  night. 
Her  eyes  sparkled  as  of  old,  and  she  sang  so  cheerily,  as 
she  flitted  about  the  dairy,  that  he  put  off  a  tramp  to  the 
oak  woods,  where  he  was  experimenting  with  a  young 
brood  of  kingfishers.  He  watched  her  as  she  moved  about, 
and  for  the  first  time  it  came  into  his  mind  that  she  was 
very  pretty,  almost  as  pretty,  he  thought,  as  the  little  girl 
toward  whom  he  had  vowed  a  boy's  passionate  chivalry. 
"  I  say,  Norah,  why  aren't  you  like  this  always  ?  " 
"  Like  what  ?  Sure,  I  am  always  the  same." 
"  No,  you  aren't ;  your  face  is  as  long  as  Black  Dick's  " 
(Black  Dick  was  the  Doctor's  pet  cob),  "  and  you  haven't 
enough  spirit  to  say  mud  to  a  green  turtle.  I  don't  have 
any  enjoyment  with  you  lately  at  all.  Come,  now,  tell 
me  what  it  is.  You're  not  going  to  be  a  '  Free  Wilier,'  are 
you  ? " 

A  Free  Wilier  was  the  name  of  a  Baptist  society  just 
established  in  Marbury  Center,  and  the  congregation  was 
derided  a  good  deal  by  the  Methodists  and  Quakers,  who 
were  in  the  majority  in  the  township. 

"  Denny,  dear,  you're  a  silly  little  boy,"  said  Norah, 
with  a  placid  laugh,  as  she  turned  a  great  stream  of  milk 
into  the  shining  tin  pans.  "  You  know  very  well  I'm  not 


II4  THE  ALIENS. 

going  to  be  a  Free  Wilier  to  make  myself  a  show  in  Mar- 
bury." 

The  two,  when  alone,  were  fond  of  reviving  the  forms 
of  speech  and  even  the  accent  of  their  parents,  as  if  an 
instinct  impelled  them  to  cherish  all  that  is  left  the  Alien 
among  strangers  not  only  antipathetic  to  their  race,  but 
derisively  alert  to  caricature  the  tokens  of  the  lost  patrie. 
It  was  a  pleasant  sound  to  hear  Norah  dearing  Denny  in 
the  soft  rich  brogue  she  had  kept  better  than  the  boy.  It 
was  always  a  signal  to  him  that  his  sister  was  in  a  merry 
humor,  and  to-night  she  sang  him  "  Kathleen,  mavour- 
neen  "  and  "  The  Irish  Jaunting-Car  "  until  his  eyes  filled 
with  tears,  and  the  tears  were  forgotten  in  Pegg's  lyric 
witchery.  He  was  very  happy  when  they  went  up-stairs, 
and  made  sure  that  Norah  Avould  not  shut  the  door  as  she 
had  of  late  done.  But  he  was  disappointed.  She  was  gay 
and  talkative  enough  until  she  said  she  felt  sleepy,  but,  so 
soon  as  he  was  in  bed,  she  shut  the  door ;  and,  as  he  lay 
awake,  puzzling  over  the  mystery,  he  saw  a  ray  of  light 
under  the  door !  Now,  lights  in  the  house  in  summer 
were  unknown  outside  the  Doctor's  study,  and  even  there 
they  were  rarely  kept  burning  after  ten  o'clock. 

What  could  Norah  be  doing  with  a  light  at  such  a  time  ? 
Reading  ?  No,  she  couldn't  be  reading,  because  she  always 
let  him  read  to  her.  She  couldn't  be  getting  ready  for  the 
journey  to  the  city,  because  her  muslin  gown  he  had  seen 
her  take  from  the  closet,  and  her  silk  mitts  and  hat  from 
the  lavender-scented  chest.  He  listened  intently.  He 
was  sure  he  could  hear  the  rustle  of  stiffly  starched  skirts, 
which  were  worn  very  voluminous  in  those  days.  Tor 
mented  by  the  strange  revolution  in  Norah's  habits,  the  boy 
sat  up  in  bed  and  listened.  He  was  sure  Norah  was  mov 
ing  about.  He  could  hear  the  stiff  fabric  rustling  against 
the  bureau-drawers  as  the  brass  handles  were  touched. 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO.  115 

An  ungovernable  curiosity,  mingled  with  wounded  pride, 
filled  his  startled  senses.  How  could  Norah  treat  him  so  ? 
He  had  never  found  a  bird's-nest,  nor  an  arbutus-bed,  nor 
a  fringed  gentian,  nor  a  tiger-lily,  nor  a  Jack-in-the-pulpit 
(in  those  days  these  were  rarities  even  to  favored  botanists 
in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  could  only  be  got  by  the 
most  adventurous  quest  in  such  places  as  gave  Denny 
deadly  terror  to  approach,  for  they  were  the  places  where 
his  mortal  terror,  the  black  snakes,  most  loved  to  coil 
themselves) — he  had  never,  I  say,  denied  her  the  bloom 
of  these  delights,  and  the  spirit  of  fair  play,  sometimes 
keenest  in  a  boy,  revolted  that  she  should  deny  him  a  share 
in  her  secrets  or  enjoyments.  He  slipped  out  of  bed  and 
tried  to  lift  the  latch,  but  it  was  fastened,  and  the  door 
remained  firm.  This  was  a  still  more  grievous  mark  of 
infidelity,  and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears  of  wounded  love. 
He  heard  a  furtive  movement  in  the  room,  and  then  all 
was  still. 

"  Norah,"  he  whispered,  for  he  knew  the  consequence 
of  waking  the  old  couple  down-stairs,  "  Norah,  let  me  in." 

He  could  hear  her  moving  to  the  door ;  he  could  even 
hear  her  starched  skirts  rustling,  and  he  was  in  an  agony 
of  wonder.  She  didn't  open  the  door  to  him,  but  whis 
pered  crossly  through  the  thin  panel : 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  I  sha'n't  let  you  in.  Go  to  bed ; 
you're  a  bad  boy." 

Stung  by  this  reproach,  and  exasperated  by  his  long 
vigil,  Denny  gave  the  door  a  loud  knock,  and  began  to 
work  the  latch  violently. 

"  Wait  a  minute,  and  I  will  let  you  in,"  Norah  said  in 
a  pleading,  frightened  voice.  He  heard  her  move  swiftly 
away  from  the  door  and  then  come  back.  The  peg  over 
the  latch  was  drawn  out — Denny  noted  that  it  had  been 
fashioned  to  fit  the  place — and  the  door  opened,  but  the 


Il6  THE  ALIENS. 

room  was  in  darkness.  He  could  distinguish  Norah's 
form,  and  he  saw  that  she  was  dressed  as  if  to  go  out.  The 
moon  was  at  the  full,  and  his  eyes  soon  became  enough 
accustomed  to  the  dim  light  to  see  that  she  had  on  the 
cherished  muslin  gown  which  was  only  worn  to  church 
and  town.  The  wick  of  the  candle  was  still  smoking. 

"What  are  you  doing,  Norah?  Why  have  you  got 
your  Sunday  dress  on?  Why  did  you  blow  out  the 
light  ? " 

"  I'm  trying  my  clothes  on  for  the  morning.  I  never 
have  time  to  look  them  over  when  I  go  to  the  city — I — " 

"  Why,  Norah,  what's  that  on  your  finger  ?  And  you've 
gold  in  your  ears.  Where  did  you  get  them  ?  "  and  Den 
ny  took  her  hand,  which  she  strove  to  wrench  away. 

"You're  a  silly  bad  boy,  Denny,  and  I'll  save  no  more 
doughnuts  and  ginger-cake  for  you,  nor  fill  your  dinner- 
pail;  you  sha'n't  go  to  the  surprise-party  with  me 
neither — " 

But  Denny,  whose  ungovernable  curiosity  was  now 
more  whetted  by  the  discovery  of  the  gimcracks,  had 
found  the  matches  and  lighted  the  candle.  Norah  made 
as  if  to  blow  it  out,  but  he  said  quite  determinedly  : 

"  If  you  do,  miss,  I  shall  stamp  on  the  floor,  and,  when 
the  Doctor  asks  what  it  is,  I  shall  tell  him,  and  he  will 
come  and  see  your  goings  on." 

Norah  turned  her  back  on  him  and  sank  into  a  chair. 
She  was  dressed  in  her  best,  as  Denny  conjectured.  In 
her  ears  she  had  put  the  two  little  golden  drops  Darcy 
had  given  her,  and  the  ring  was  on  her  finger.  She  had 
evidently  been  admiring  herself  in  the  mirror  ;  for  it  was 
lifted  from  the  high  bureau  and  set  down  on  the  chest. 
She  sat  under  the  boy's  mute  and  wondering  inspection 
quite  rigid  and  silent.  He  walked  all  around  her,  and 
then  set  the  candle  down,  wondering  what  it  all  meant,  for 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO. 


117 


he  had  never  known  her  to  care  much  for  dress,  and  he 
was  sure  she  couldn't  have  bought  the  trinkets. 

"Are  they  gold,  Norah?"he  asked,  pointing  to  the 
glittering  things. 

"  I'll  not  tell  you  a  word.  I  want  to  go  to  bed,"  and 
she  arose  and  began  to  take  the  ring  from  her  finger,  and 
then  the  jewels  from  her  ears.  But  she  was  careful  not  to 
let  them  out  of  her  grasp.  If  Denny  saw  the  ring  he 
would  read  the  letters  cut  inside,  and  then  he  would  know 
all. 

"  You're  a  giddy,  foolish  girl,  and  I  don't  love  you  any 
more,"  said  Denny,  moving  toward  the  door. 

"  I — I — O  Denny  !  don't  say  that ;  we've  been  so  close 
to  each  other  this  many  a  year.  You  never  said  anything 
cruel  before.  I — I  can't  bear  it,  Denny  !  It's  like  cruelty 
to  the  mother.  O  Denny !  she  wouldn't  say  that  to 
me — "  and  Norah  fell  on  the  edge  of  the  bed,  disheveled 
and  woe-begone. 

"Well,"  Denny  said  haltingly,  keeping  his  eyes  reso 
lutely  from  her,  as  he  felt  the  hot  tears  betraying  him, 
"when  you  sit  up  at  night  to  keep  secrets  from  me,  and 
make  a  peg  to  fasten  the  door  to  keep  me  out,  I  think  I 
ought  to  be  angry  with  you,  don't  you  ? " 

"  Yes,  but  don't,  Denny,  for  I  can't  bear  it !  " 

"  Well,  then,  tell  me  all  about  it." 

"  All  about  what  ? "  and  she  looked  up  more  com 
posedly  now,  for  she  knew  that  when  Denny  was  lulled 
into  disputation  all  common  grievances  were  forgotten. 

"  How  silly  you  are,  Norah.    You  know  well  enough — : 
But  here  Norah,  in  laying  a  garment  on  the  dresser,  man 
aged  to  overturn  the  candle,  which  went  out. 

"  But  you  don't  feel  angry,  Denny,  do  you?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do  ;  that  is—" 

"Well,  Denny,  in  the  morning    I  shall  have  ever  so 


Il8  THE  ALIENS. 

much  to  tell  you;  so  be  a  good  boy  now  and  go  to  bed." 
She  fell  on  her  knees,  and  Denny  couldn't  prolong  the 
contest,  for  prayer  was  a  sacred  rite  to  Kate's  son. 

He  went  out  and  closed  the  door.  He  sobbed  himself 
to  sleep,  cut  to  the  heart  that  Norah  had  a  secret  from 
him,  and  that  she  should  seem  to  be  indifferent  whether  he 
loved  her  or  not. 

In  the  morning  Norah  was  up  long  before  Denis 
awoke,  and  he  peeped  sadly  into  her  room  as  he  dressed 
himself.  The  muslin  gown,  silk  mantle  edged  with  black 
lace,  and  the  ponderous  scoop  bonnet  were  carefully  laid 
out  on  the  bed,  ready  to  be  put  on  when  the  morning 
work  should  be  done.  He  ran  off  down  the  dewy  lane 
with  the  cows,  and  when  he  got  back  from  the  meadow 
the  Doctor,  with  Norah  by  his  side,  was  driving  down  the 
Warchester  road  in  the  patriarchal  gig-wagon.  Norah's 
cheeks  bloomed  like  the  wild  roses  in  the  fence-corners  as 
the  wagon  rolled  cheerfully  along  over  the  road  humid 
with  dew.  The  sun  was  just  breaking  through  the  green 
fringe  of  the  trees  lining  the  hills  to  the  eastward,  and  the 
morning  concert  in  the  hedges  filled  the  air  with  unstudied 
symphonies  that  charmed  the  ear.  The  Doctor  stopped  a 
dozen  times  to  gossip  with  the  farmers  as  they  hailed  him 
from  the  wheat-fields,  where  the  mowers  were  at  work  with 
their  great  basket  sickles,  tumbling  down  wide  swaths 
of  the  yellow  grain.  Norah  could  hardly  bide  these  delays 
with  patience,  and  her  eyes  brightened  as  they  reached  the 
top  of  the  hill,  where  the  Doctor's  neighborly  amenities 
were  confined  to  a  bow  and  cordial  "good-day."  When 
they  drove  into  the  city  it  was  still  early  morning  :  the 
working-people  were  moving  in  crowds  to  the  factories 
and  shops  with  dinner-pails  and  burdens  ;  the  stores  were 
just  opening,  and  the  main  streets  were  otherwise  quite 
deserted.  The  horses  were  driven  into  the  stables  of  the 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO.  119 

Eagle  tavern,  and  Norah  was  bestowed  in  the  stiff  parlor 
to  await  the  Doctor's  return.  She  seated  herself  at  the  win 
dow  and  watched  the  bustling  street.  The  Eagle  was  at 
the  junction  of  four  streets,  and  she  could  see  the  main 
traffic  of  the  town.  Others,  like  herself  awaiting  the  move 
ments  of  the  "  men-folks,"  presently  made  a  considerable 
company  in  the  room,  but  she  gave  them  no  heed.  She 
was  watching  for  a  form  she  had  been  hungering  to  see  for 
weeks  ;  but  she  watched  in  vain. 

At  noon  the  Doctor  came  back,  and  took  her  into  the 
noisy  dining-room,  where  the  poor  child  tried  to  eat,  but 
could  not.  The  Doctor  remarked  her  want  of  appetite 
and  rallied  her  on  her  country  tastes  ;  but  a  discussion 
with  a  neighbor  on  a  question  of  crops  diverted  him  from 
her  abstemiousness,  and  she  was  relieved  and  glad,  for  she 
felt  that  the  tears  were  very  near  her  eyes.  After  dinner 
she  resumed  her  post  at  the  window.  Her  heart  fluttered 
when,  toward  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  she  saw  the 
Doctor  returning  to  the  tavern  in  company  with  Colonel 
Warchester.  But  they  didn't  come  into  the  parlor.  She 
heard  the  Doctor's  voice  in  the  hallway  and  Warchester's 
low  responses.  Presently  the  horses  came  around  to  the 
door,  and  the  Doctor  bade  her  get  into  the  vehicle.  Col 
onel  Warchester  came  out  with  the  Doctor,  who  said,  as  he 
took  his  place : 

"  I  shall  be  at  your  house  in  less  than  an  hour.  I  have 
some  shopping  to  do  for  the  women  folks." 

Then  Norah's  eyes  sparkled.  She  should  see  him,  after 
all !  He  would  know  that  she  was  in  the  gig,  and  would 
come  out  and  speak  to  her.  She  loved  to  go  into  the 
shops  and  look  at  the  wonders  displayed,  but  to-day  she 
could  hardly  help  the  Doctor  in  the  simple  purchases  Aunt 
Selina  had  written  out  so  carefully.  At  length  they  were 
finished,  and  the  Doctor,  with  a  sigh  of  relief,  put  her  in  the 


120  THE  ALIENS. 

seat  and  drove  off  to  that  enchanted  court  quarter  of  the 
town  where  the  great  houses  stood  far  back  from  the 
street,  with  tall  columns  in  front,  like  a  colony  of  Grecian 
temples  in  an  urban  Arcady.  Before  the  largest  of  these 
wonderful  mansions,  secluded  behind  a  circular  hedge,  the 
Doctor  halted,  and  getting  out  gave  the  lines  to  Norah. 

Her  heart  beat  as  he  disappeared  through  the  high 
iron  gates,  bidding  her  await  his  return.  She  sat  looking 
straight  before  her  through  a  blinding  mist  of  hot  tears, 
which,  as  the  time  dragged  wearily  on,  fell  faster  and  grew 
more  burning.  She  was  sobbing  bitterly,  and  the  lines  had 
fallen  from  her  hands,  when  she  was  aroused  by  a  great 
clatter  in  the  street.  Before  she  could  seize  the  reins,  a 
dreadful  apparition  arose  a  few  yards  in  front  coming  to 
ward  her.  There  was  a  loud  ringing  of  bells,  shouting 
men  and  skurrying  vehicles,  as  a  ponderous  fire-engine 
— a  machine  just  introduced  into  the  civic  system  of  War- 
chester — came  upon  her  sight.  The  country  horses,  ter 
rified  by  the  spectacle,  backed  and  turned,  tipping  the 
awkward  chariot,  and  before  the  frightened  girl  knew 
what  was  impending  she  was  lying  in  the  overturned  cape 
of  the  gig,  the  horses  struggling  madly  to  get  out  of  the 
street.  Her  head  came  violently  in  contact  with  a  curb 
stone,  and  she  knew  no  more.  At  the  moment  of  the  ca 
tastrophe  a  young  gentleman,  riding  a  large  bay  horse, 
and  accompanied  by  a  young  girl  on  a  pony,  came  can 
tering  down  the  Warchester  grounds.  The  Doctor,  rush 
ing  out,  shouted  that  his  horses  were  running  away ;  and 
the  young  man,  leaving  his  companion,  dashed  into  the 
street,  and  in  an  instant  was  almost  abreast  of  the  over 
turned  vehicle,  caught  on  the  curb.  Leaping  from  the 
horse,  he  caught  the  leader  just  as  it  turned  and  cleared 
the  impediment,  and  relinquishing  the  rein  to  the  stable 
man,  who  had  run  out,  he  extricated  Norah  from  the 


A    TALE  FROM  BOCCACCIO.  I2i 

wreck.  She  was  quite  unconscious.  Blood  was  stream 
ing  from  her  head,  and  for  a  moment  he  thought  her  dead. 
The  Doctor,  coming  up  soon,  decided  that  she  was  merely 
stunned  by  the  fright  and  concussion,  and  would  be  all 
right  after  the  application  of  restoratives, 

"  I  will  carry  her  into  the  house,"  said  Darcy,  for  it 
was  he,  "  and  the  man  will  take  care  of  the  horses,  while 
you  attend  her." 

He  lifted  her  up  tenderly,  more  agitated  than  the  Doc 
tor,  and  carried  her  easily  up  the  bridle-path  to  the  house. 
The  young  lady  leaped  off  the  pony  as  he  came  up,  and 
asked  him  who  it  was. 

"  Dr.  Marbury's  ward,  the  girl  you  heard  my  mother 
speaking  about  the  other  day,"  Darcy  said,  indifferently. 
"  She  is  badly  hurt." 

"  Poor  thing  !  "  echoed  the  other,  and  they  continued  in 
silence  to  the  house.  Darcy,  in  quaking  terror  lest  Norah 
should  revive  and  recognize  him  in  the  presence  of  the 
other,  abruptly  called  for  the  housekeeper  on  entering  the 
hall,  and  ordered  that  Norah  be  taken  up-stairs  ;  but,  as 
there  was  some  delay,  he  bade  his  companion  wait  while 
he  carried  the  victim  to  the  housekeeper's  room.  His 
burden  was  so  slight  that  he  leaped  up-stairs  and  was 
within  the  shelter  of  the  room  before  any  one  else  was 
within  hearing.  Then,  laying  her  gently  on  a  couch,  he 
pressed  a  lingering  kiss  upon  the  white  lips,  murmuring : 

"  Norah,  my  own  gentle  girl !  " 

He  could  feel  her  reviving  as  she  opened  her  eyes. 
They  were  fixed  upon  him  with  a  wondering  joy,  and 
then  closed.  Before  he  could  speak  a  word  of  caution, 
the  housekeeper's  voice  was  heard  at  the  door,  and  he 
stood  above  the  couch  as  she  came  in. 

"  O  Mr.  Darcy  !  is  she  dead  ?  " 

"  No,  Mrs.  Ray,  but  she  is  badly  hurt ;  the  Doctor  will 


122  THE  ALIENS. 

be  here  in  a  minute.  I'll  go,  so  that  you  may  remove  her 
clothes,"  and  he  walked  hastily  away.  He  met  the  Doctor 
on  the  stairs,  and  directed  him  where  to  go,  and  then  re 
joined  his  companion,  who  stood  on  the  porch  talking 
with  Mrs.  Warchester.  The  horses  were  brought  up  as 
he  narrated  the  incident,  and,  bidding  his  mother  attend 
the  sufferer,  he  set  out  at  a  brisk  canter,  angry  and  ill  at 
ease  under  the  thoughtless  banter  of  the  young  girl  who 
dwelt  unsuspiciously  upon  his  heroic  adventure. 

"  You  were  quite  like  the  hero  in  the  play,  Darcy.  I 
really  must  bring  on  a  catastrophe  to  try  your  mettle  ; 
where  your  heart's  engaged,  do  you  think  your  presence 
of  mind  would  be  equal  to  that  cavalier's  readiness  ? " 

She  looked  at  him  archly  as  he  shot  a  little  beyond 
her,  his  face  concealed  by  the  movement. 

"Beauty  in  distress  commands  every  man's  heart, 
Agnes ;  don't  put  me  to  the  test,  where  you  doubt  the 
result." 

"But  you  didn't  know  there  was  beauty  there — even 
rustic  beauty." 

"True  hearts  divine  beauty  when  danger  threatens. 
I'm  for  a  canter — come  !  " 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

YOUNG    BARBARIANS   AT    PLAY. 

ON  returning  from  his  ride,  two  hours  later,  Darcy  was 
just  in  time  to  meet  the  physician  coming  out  with  Dr. 
Marbury.  He  asked  quietly  after  the  invalid,  and  was 
told  that  her  shoulder  had  been  fractured,  but  that  the 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY. 


I23 


injuries  about  the  head  were  trifling.  She  could  not  bear 
removal  for  some  days.  There  was,  however,  no  cause 
for  alarm.  He  breathed  an  inward  sigh  of  devout  relief, 
for  he  had  been  tortured  by  the  fear  that  Norah  would  lie 
in  the  house  in  a  fever,  and  in  her  delirium  murmur  his 
name  in  the  horror-struck  ears  of  the  housekeeper  or  even 
his  mother.  He  bade  the  Doctor  good-by  with  relieved 
effusion,  assuring  him  that  the  girl  would  be  well  cared 
for  by  his  mother  and  family. 

"  I  feel  sure  of  that,  Darcy.  All  that  troubles  me  is 
the  burden  that  poor  Norah  must  be  to  you  all  until  we 
can  remove  her,"  said  the  Doctor,  pressing  the  young 
man's  hand.  "  If  it  will  be  of  any  use  I  will  send  Denny 
to  watch  over  his  sister." 

"  Never  think  of  such  a  thing,  Doctor ;  we  have  plenty 
of  people  in  the  house,  and  the  small  attention  Norah  will 
need  won't  tax  any  of  them,"  returned  Darcy,  heartily. 
He  was  immensely  relieved,  but  he  entered  the  supper- 
room  musing  and  distracted.  Madame  Warchester  sat  in 
state  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and,  noticing  her  son's  ab 
straction,  said  : 

"  Darcy,  I  have  a  message  from  Bucephalo,  from  sister 
Kate.  They  are  going  to  have  a  great  time  there  next 
week  to  commemorate  the  defeat  of  the  British  at  Lundy's 
Lane.  General  Scott  is  to  be  their  guest,  and  she  wants 
us  to  come  up  and  help  her  entertain  the  company.  You 
must  go,  at  any  rate.  I  want  you  to  know  these  eminent 
people.  It  is  an  opportunity  for  a  young  man." 

"  Are  you  all  going  ?  "  he  asked,  his  face  brightening. 

"  I  don't  see  how  I  can  go  with  this  young  person  in 
the  house.  By-the-way,  do  you  know  she  is  one  of  those 
Boynes — James  Boyne's  niece  ? " 

"  Is  she  ? "  he  asked  indifferently. 

"  Yes.     The  mother,  it  seems,  is  dead,  and  the  family 


124  THE  ALIENS. 

has  been  scattered,  as  all  these  foreign  folk  do  scatter. 
They  seem  to  have  no  sense  of  family  ties  as  we  do." 

"  Perhaps,  mother,  it  isn't  so  much  a  lack  of  our  sense  of 
family  ties  as  the  misfortune  of  incapacity  to  hold  together 
in  a  new  country,  where,  coming  late  in  life,  the  parents 
do  not  understand  how  to  manage.  However,  never  mind 
that.  I  am  delighted  at  the  idea  of  the  great  doings  at 
Bucephalo.  Let  Mrs.  Ray  take  charge  of  the  house,  and 
we  can  all  set  off  in  the  morning;  for,  unless  you  go,  I 
shall  decline  the  opportunity  of  meeting  the  commander- 
in-chief." 

Perhaps,  had  the  fond  mother  seen  the  processes  of  the 
filial  mind  she  would  not  have  smiled  such  complacent 
assent.  He  was  thinking  of  the  possible  danger  of  the 
mother  and  Norah  seeing  too  much  of  each  other.  The 
child's  innocence  might  betray  his  past  relations,  and, 
while  he  was  conscious  of  no  wrong-doing,  he  knew  his 
mother  well  enough  to  foresee  the  effect  even  such  a  harm 
less  intimacy  would  produce  upon  her.  The  Bucephalo 
visit  came  like  relief  in  a  dark  night,  and  he  talked  gayly 
of  the  fine  times  they  would  have  with  the  great  people 
assembled  at  his  aunt's.  So  Norah  saw  no  more  of  Darcy, 
though,  in  a  day  or  two,  when  she  recovered  conscious 
ness,  she  turned  her  eyes  eagerly  toward  the  door  when 
ever  any  one  entered.  She  was  too  timid  to  ask  her  nurse, 
whom  at  first  she  supposed  to  be  Darcy's  relative. 

It  was  not  for  several  days,  and  just  as  she  was  getting 
strong  enough  to  sit  up,  that  Denny,  coming  to  see  her, 
made  known  that  the  family  were  all  away,  and  would  not 
be  back  for  some  time.  She  sighed  to  be  back  in  the  Mar- 
bury  home,  as  Denny  prattled  of  the  doings  on  the  farm : 
how  the  mottled  cow  had  come  up  to  the  dairy-door,  for 
days  after  Norah's  going,  refusing  at  first  to  let  any  one 
milk  her  ;  how  all  the  cows  hid  themselves  in  the  deep 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY.  125 

wood  of  an  evening,  refusing  to  come  to  the  bars  until  they 
were  driven  ;  how  the  butter-pats  were  round  and  ugly 
under  the  manipulations  of  "  Alameda,"  the  neighbor's 
daughter,  who  came  in  to  help  Aunt  Selina  during  Norah's 
absence. 

The  grandeur  of  this  great  house  oppressed  her.  One 
day  Mrs.  Ray  took  her  through  all  the  chambers,  to  show 
her  the  state  in  which  the  family  lived.  She  passed  list 
lessly  through  Madame  Warchester's  fine  boudoir,  with 
high  canopied  windows  and  rich  carpeting  ;  but  when 
Mrs.  Ray  said,  "This  is  Mr.  Darcy's  room,"  she  grew 
instantly  alert. 

It  was  the  room  of  a  luxurious  young  man  of  the  olden 
time,  and  would  not  be  regarded  as  effeminate  to-day. 
Double-barreled  rifles  were  crossed  over  the  mantel-piece, 
hunting-horns  and  Nimrod  traps  covered  the  walls.  There 
were  no  French  prints,  such  as  young  kinsmen  of  Darcy 
affect  to-day,  but  in  their  place  grim  oil-paintings  of  the 
Puritan  ancestry  of  the  house,  such  as  in  old  times  adorned 
the  apartments  of  the  eldest  sons  of  great  houses.  Darcy's 
tastes  were  evidently  warlike,  for,  of  recent  works  of  art, 
he  possessed  turgid  prints  of  the  surrender  at  Yorktown ; 
General  Gates,  on  a  wondrously  long-legged  and  prancing 
horse,  pointing  a  ferocious  sword  at  General  Burgoyne  on 
the  hill  of  Saratoga  ;  another,  in  hues  so  varied  that  the 
spectator  was  for  a  time  perplexed  as  to  the  manner  of 
men  portrayed,  represented  the  then  recent  battle  of  Lun- 
dy's  Lane,  with  the  British  army  leaping  over  the  Horse 
shoe  Falls,  pursued  by  long  lines  of  very  blue  figures  shel 
tered  under  canopies  of  red,  white,  and  blue !  These 
artless  works  of  patriotic  genius  did  not  impress  Norah 
very  much.  She  walked  over  to  the  wall,  where  the  gun 
rested  that  she  had  seen  often  on  the  young  man's  arm, 
and  laid  her  hand  on  the  stock  caressingly.  It  was  the 


126  THE  ALIENS. 

only  familiar  object  in  the  room.  It  recalled  the  hours 
he  had  passed  in  the  dairy,  and  his  jocular  assurances  to 
her  when  she  had  at  first  avoided  it  with  terror.  She 
would  have  kissed  the  piece  had  Mrs.  Ray  not  been  in  the 
room.  As  it  was,  with  a  gentle  sigh  she  turned  and  fol 
lowed  her  chaperone  through  the  other  solemn  chambers, 
very  distraught  and,  as  the  good  woman  thought,  over 
awed  by  the  unaccustomed  grandeur.  A  few  days  after 
she  was  taken  home,  and  sat,  in  the  joyful  state  of  a  con 
valescent,  in  the  happy  corner  where  the  broad  hearth  of 
bricks  met  the  carpet  she  had  long  ago  helped  to  fabricate. 

It  was  peace  and  rest,  and  it  was  home.  But  somehow 
it  was  not  the  content  she  had  once  known.  Everything 
was  tender,  cheerful,  and  devoted,  but  Norah  felt,  with  a 
guilty  pang,  that  she  was  not  at  rest  as  she  used  to  be. 
Even  when  she  was  able  to  go  out  and  welcome  the  lowing 
herd  in  the  evening,  the  absurd  gambols  of  the  mottled 
cow  "  Penelope  "  failed  to  excite  the  joy  she  used  to  feel 
as  she  rubbed  its  shaggy  nose  and  fed  it  the  sweet  apples 
from  the  harvest  tree.  What  was  still  more  grievous,  she 
could  never  milk  again.  The  dislocated  shoulder  had 
permanently  injured  the  muscles  of  her  arm,  and  Denny 
in  future  milked  "  Penelope,"  who  refused  to  permit  the 
stable-man  to  come  near  her. 

By  September,  when  Denny  resumed  school,  after  the 
long  summer  vacation,  Norah  had  fallen  into  the  old  way 
of  life,  but  her  soul  was  full  of  a  sad,  tender  yearning. 
Every  shadow  that  fell  on  the  dairy  rilled  her  with  a 
tumultuous  expectation,  only  to  be  disappointed.  He 
never  came.  Even  the  Doctor,  who  occasionally  went 
to  town  alone  now,  lost  the  habit  of  speaking  of  young 
Warchester.  He  had  gone  into  the  army,  and  was  on 
the  staff  of  the  commander-in-chief.  But  his  memory 
was  embalmed  in  the  little  hair  chest  in  Norah's  room. 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY.  127 

There,  in  the  darkness,  when  the  house  was  still,  Norah 
would  take  out  the  books  and  trinkets  and  sit  in  the  moon 
light  touching  them,  as  a  devotee  fingers  a  rosary,  repeat 
ing  the  caressing  words  he  had  said  so  long  ago. 

Denny,  immersed  in  his  school,  was  vaguely  con 
scious  that  Norah  had  changed,  but  he  was  puzzled  to  say 
how.  She  was  interested  in  all  his  activities  as  of  yore  ; 
she  never  refused  his  invitations  to  the  woodland  myste 
ries  :  but  somehow  she  didn't  gibe  him  with  her  old  humor, 
nor  give  such  poetic  guesses  at  the  purposes  of  the  occult 
sciences  of  flowers,  plants,  and  insects,  as  in  the  old  days. 
She  was  still  proud  of  him,  and  went  regularly  of  a  Satur 
day  afternoon  to  hear  and  applaud  his  declamations  when 
the  boys  "spoke  their  pieces."  He  was  secretly  very 
proud  and  happy  when  he  overheard  the  other  boys  descant 
on  the  beauty  of  "  that  Paddy's  sister." 

Marbury  Center  had  become  a  considerable  village. 
It  was  four  miles  from  Warchester,  and  about  this  time 
the  sedate  community  was  scandalized  by  the  opening 
of  a  tavern.  Until  this  time  the  mill  had  been  the 
rendezvous  of  the  hamlet,  where  Seth  Cook  had  enter 
tained  such  stray  guests  as  found  bed  and  lodging 
needful.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  traffic  between 
Warchester  and  Bucephalo,  and  the  enterprising  Ritter 
had  exchanged  a  town  lot  for  the  farm  that  jutted  on 
the  corner  opposite  the  mill.  Here  he  had  installed  his 
family,  to  build  up  a  business  and  work  the  farm  in 
the  cherished  German  fashion.  The  older  members  of 
the  community  looked  upon  the  invasion  as  a  dese 
cration  of  the  township,  and  for  a  time  the  "  Dutch  rum- 
sellers  "  were  avoided  by  their  neighbors.  But  the  young 
men  found  the  simple  dissipations  of  the  place  very  agree 
able.  The  estate  had  run  down  sadly,  the  mansion,  which 
had  been  in  the  family  of  the  previous  owner  for  a  quarter 


128  THE  ALIENS. 

of  a  century,  was  a  very  imposing  country  residence.  Its 
tall  white  pillars  quite  eclipsed  anything  nearer  than  War- 
chester.  The  whole  of  the  front  part  of  the  building  was 
made  into  a  "  bar,"  with  white  sanded  floor  and  neat  little 
tables.  The  broad  spacious  piazza  was  always  cool,  and 
here  of  an  evening  the  young  men  began  to  find  a  pleasure 
in  lounging  after  the  work  of  the  day,  and  watching  the  equi 
pages  from  the  city  that  began  to  make  the  place  a  "  re 
sort." 

And  when  it  was  seen  that  Ritter's  was  not  the  "  low 
groggery  "  that  public  rumor  anticipated,  and  that  the 
family  was  quiet,  decent,  laborious,  and  intelligent,  Mar- 
bury  recalled  its  fierce  hostile  purpose,  and  came  to  regard 
the  new-comers  as  an  acquisition.  For  the  thrift,  enter 
prise,  and  assiduity  with  which  the  run-down  acres  were 
reclaimed  were  a  revelation  to  the  timid  agriculture  of  the' 
township.  Such  gardening  had  never  been  dreamed  of  in 
the  careless  methods  of  the  country.  The  second  year's 
crops  paid  the  entire  cost  of  the  purchase,  aside  from  the 
exchange,  and  the  Ritters  were  accepted  as  people  of 
"means,"  which  in  those  days  meant  everything  in 
the  cautious  estimation  of  our  fathers.  Mrs.  Ritter  no 
longer  dispensed  the  beer  in  the  pewter  beakers  that 
passed  around  among  her  clients.  Wilhelmina  and  Oswald 
were  the  aptest  students  in  the  Marbury  school,  and  Hans 
Ritter  was,  in  the  second  year  of  his  coming,  elected 
trustee.  Denny  and  Oswald  were  about  the  same  age,  and 
ardent  rivals  in  their  classes.  These  Alien  interlopers 
were  regarded  with  a  good  deal  of  jealousy  and  some 
scorn  by  the  native  youth.  Oswald  was  nicknamed 
"  young  Dutchy  "  as  Denny  had  been  known  from  the 
first  as  "the  Paddy."  Beyond  their  scholastic  rivalry  the 
two  boys  were  fairly  good  friends,  and  between  them  they 
were  a  match  for  the  rest  when  covert  enmity  went  beyond 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY. 


I29 


mere  tantalizing.  Denny  was  foremost  in  grammar,  his 
tory,  geography,  spelling ;  while  Oswald  led  the  school  in 
mathematics — with  only  one  rival,  Dilly  Dane — who  was 
a  phenomenal  pupil  in  algebra  and  geometry.  Arthur  Ken 
nel,  the  ringleader  in  Denny's  early  persecutions,  was  still 
the  tormentor-in-chief  of  the  young  tyrants,  and,  when 
ever  he  saw  an  opportunity,  worked,  with  the  malignant 
insight  of  a  boy,  all  the  petty  oppression  known  to  boyish 
ingenuity,  against  Denny.  But  harsh  as  were  his  young 
years,  and  burdensome  as  the  routine  of  persecution  grew, 
there  were  joys  they  could  not  lessen,  rewards  that  they 
could  not  steep  in  tears.  They  could  not  depose  him 
from  the  leadership  of  his  classes,  nor  deprive  him  of  the 
covert  partiality  of  pretty  Dilly  Dane.  In  spite  of  per 
sistent  tricks,  savage  and  relentless — in  the  face  of  such 
organized  caricature  and  sarcasm  as  only  boys  can  devise 
against  the  gentle  and  uncomplaining — the  modest  girl 
maintained  her  passive  championship  of  the  abhorred 
Alien. 

There  was  always  the  loveliest  little  blush  for  him  when 
he  timidly  laid  the  spoils  of  his  wild-wood  tours  on  her 
desk,  and  a  responsive  signal  when,  in  the  crisis  of  exam 
ination,  he  dextrously  formed  his  lips  into  the  answer  that 
saved  her  pride  from  the  mortification  of  displacement  in 
the  class.  She  accepted  tacitly  every  meek  sign  of  the 
timorous  lad's  devotion,  and,  in  a  sort  of  gentle  bravado, 
shared  the  food  in  her  ample  basket  with  Denny  when  his 
inquisitors  emptied  or  hid  his  own  modest  luncheon. 
Sometimes,  too,  she  arose  in  stern  wrath  and  put  the 
leagued  imps  to  shame  when  they  became  unbearably  inso 
lent  in  their  small  persecutions.  Sometimes  too — never- 
to-be-forgotten  evenings,  when  the  romping  girls  went  ber 
rying — Dilly  walked  sedately  with  her  proud  knight  along 
the  Marbury  road  to  the  parting  of  the  ways,  prattling 


130  THE  ALIENS. 

sweetly  of  the  future,  when  her  sweetheart  should  be  a 
great  lawyer,  and  make  speeches,  like  Governor  Darcy,  that 
should  set  the  jury  in  tears,  and  make '  the  Warchester 
"  Watchman  "  speak  of  him  as  our  "  eminent  and  distin 
guished  townsman."  In  wanderings  of  this  delightful 
sort,  she  listened  gravely  to  the  boy's  impulsive  chatter 
over  the  day's  lessons,  or  sighed  and  blushed  with  delight 
as  he  artlessly  recounted,  with  the  enthusiasm  of  an  ama 
teur,  his  wondrous  discoveries  in  the  huckleberry  swamps, 
or  listened  sympathetically  to  his  hair-breadth  escapes  in 
the  tall  limbs  of  the  chestnut-  or  walnut-trees  as  he  gath 
ered  these  dainty  treasures  for  her.  Sometimes  they 
were  set  upon  by  jeering  fellow-scholars  in  these  home 
ward  rambles ;  but  Dilly  had  a  mild  dignity  of  her  own 
that  disheartened  all  save  the  most  audacious. 

One  day  Denny  fell  into  deep  disgrace.  He  was 
worried  into  striking  one  of  his  tormentors,  and  there 
was  a  prodigious  agitation.  He  had  patiently  endured 
bent  pins  on  his  bench,  had  remained  quiet  when  water 
was  poured  down  his  back  by  means  of  an  alder  syringe  ; 
but,  when  a  bench-mate  daubed  the  pages  of  his  new 
grammar  with  maple  sirup,  Denny  raised  his  arm  and 
gave  the  culprit  a  resounding  smack  that  left  a  tell-tale 
welt  of  red  on  the  boy's  face. 

The  teacher  called  Denny  out,  put  a  stiff  sun-shade  on 
his  head,  lashed  his  bare  palms  with  a  birch  ferule,  and 
forbade,  for  a  week,  his  leaving  the  room  at  recess  or  the 
long  joyous  nooning,  when  the  boys  and  girls  played 
housekeeping  under  the  laurels  and  odorous  sassafras 
bushes.  This  was  a  severe  penalty  to  Denny,  for,  besides 
the  pleasures  of  the  noon  hour,  the  punishment  inflicted 
was  the  last  mark  of  disgrace.  Furthermore,  the  weather 
was  hot,  and  the  boys  always  had  a  swim  in  the  limpid 
pond  back  of  the  mill.  Denny  swam  well,  and  loved  to 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY.  131 

lead  the  others  in  diving  and  what  not.  The  first  day  he 
bore  the  punishment  manfully,  ignoring  the  taunts  of  the 
malignants  as  they  rushed  out  joyously  to  the  pond.  It 
happened  on  the  second  day  that  the  teacher  was  called 
away  just  before  noon,  and  left  a  sister  of  Arthur  Kennel's 
in  charge.  A  few  minutes  after  the  boys  had  gone  for 
the  noon  hour,  Arthur  came  to  Denny,  who  sat  disconso 
lately  trying  to  fasten  his  mind  on  his  lesson,  saying  : 

"  I  say,  Paddy,  Miss  Kimball  has  been  sent  for  to  go 
to  the  city,  and  won't  be  back  till  Saturday.  She  will 
never  know  if  you  come  out.  Come  on  ;  we're  going  to 
play  follow-the-leader,  and  Dave  Walden  has  set  up  a 
high  spring-board,  and  you  dasent  dive  from  it." 

As  Denny  hesitated,  the  young  tempter  continued : 

"Sue" — that  was  his  sister — "has  gone  home  to  din 
ner,  and  she  will  never  know,  and  I'll  see  that  none  of  the 
fellows  tell  on  you.  Come  on." 

Denny  looked  around  the  vacant  room,  and  thought  of 
the  long  dismal  hour  to  be  passed,  with  the  shouts  of  the 
others  out  at  play,  and  yielded.  The  hour  was  a  madly 
merry  one.  He  "  stumped  "  all  of  his  fellows  in  diving, 
and  when  the  bell  rang  he  found  himself  alone  at  the 
farther  side  of  the  pond.  When  he  reached  the  covert 
where  he  had  laid  his  clothes,  they  were  gone !  He 
searched  every  nook  by  the  waterside,  but  there  was  no 
sign  of  them.  Then  he  realized  his  folly  in  listening  to 
the  tempter.  He  would  be  disgraced  and  expelled  from 
school ;  and,  worst  of  all,  he  was  guilty ! 

Poor  lad  :  it  was  his  first  lesson  in  the  woful  results 
of  casuistry — that  subtle  law  of  consequence  which  fol 
lows  transgression ;  but  I  doubt  if  Burr  or  Benedict 
Arnold  suffered  more  accute  agony  in  the  cataclysm  of 
transgression  than  the  poor  child,  as  he  cowered  in  an 
agony  of  remorse  under  the  trembling  willows  !  For 


I  32  THE  ALIENS. 

hours  he  writhed  iii  an  abandonment  of  grief  on  the 
sandy  shore,  helpless  and  despairing.  There  was  no 
help.  He  couldn't  call  to  any  one.  Shame  restrained 
him.  He  must  wait  until  his  tormentors  saw  fit  to  bring 
his  clothes.  He  heard  the  shouts  of  the  boys  at  recess. 
Surely  they  would  come  to  his  relief?  No;  the  half-hour 
passed,  and  no  one  appeared.  At  four  he  heard  them 
come  out.  Surely  he  would  be  rescued  now  ?  The  voices 
died  out.  The  boys  had  gone.  He  rushed  as  far  up  the 
bank  as  he  could  without  exposing  his  naked  person  to 
the  tavern  and  the  mill  windows.  No  one  was  in  sight. 
A  swooning  sensation  of  terror  came  on  him.  He  was  to 
be  left  all  night.  His  voice  was  hoarse  with  hallooing,  and 
he  fell  on  the  ground  in  a  convulsion  of  impotent  rage  and 
anguish.  He  dared  not  present  himself  at  the  mill.  He 
must  wait  for  darkness,  and  then  fly  homeward  across  the 
fields.  How  long  he  sat  in  his  misery  he  didn't  know,  but 
presently  he  heard  : 

"  Hello,  Denny,  where  be  you  ? " 

"  He  leaped  with  joy,"  and  for  a  few  moments  could 
not  answer  as  he  made  toward  the  sound.  At  the  edge 
of  the  dam  he  saw  the  figure  of  a  man  in  the  twilight. 
He  had  a  bundle  in  his  hand,  but  Denny  didn't  recognize 
him. 

"  Be  you  there  ?  "  asked  a  voice  in  some  doubt. 

"  Are  you  looking  for  me  ?  "  asked  the  lad  despairingly, 
halting  at  the  edge  of  the  bushes  in  an  agony  of  shame. 

"  Yaas,  I'm  looking  for  you.  Where  in  creation  be 
you  ?  Oh,  there  you  be  !  Here's  some  clothes  Dilly 
Dane  has  sent  you.  You'd  better  put  'em  on  pretty  quick, 
as  the  fox  said  to  the  cat  when  she  found  her  claws,"  and 
chuckling  at  his  jocose  inconsequence,  or  the  lad's  shy 
approach,  the  man  tossed  the  bundle  toward  him,  and 
then  began  to  fill  his  pipe. 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY. 


133 


"Mity  lucky  for  yaou  little  Dilly  heerd  of  yaour  fix. 
Cute  gurl  that  ere.  Heerd  young  Art  Kennel  laffing  over 
the  joke  he'd  played  yaou,  and  she  jest  sent  these  ere 
things.  They  won't  fit  yaou  much,  I  guess,  but  they'll  do 
better  nor  sheep-skin — ah,  ha-ha  ! — till  yaou  git  hum,  eh  ? 
There's  a  hunk  uv  ginger-bread  in  the  passle  to  keep  yaou 
alive  till  yaou  git  hum.  Found  it,  eh  ?  "  and  the  joker 
continued  to  explode  at  his  own  nimble  wit. 

"  Oh,  yes,  thank  you.  Please  thank  Dilly,  and  tell  her 
—tell  her—" 

"  What,  that  yaou  think  she's  just  as  sweet  as  peaches  ? 
Bless  you,  Irishy,  she  knows  that.  I  suppose  you  mean 
fur  me  to  tell  her  that  yaou're  obleeged,  as  the  hen  said 
when  she  found  a  china  nest-egg.  I  reckon  she  knows 
yaou're  obleeged.  Most  folks  would  be  obleeged  to  have 
close  brought  'em.  Leastwise  I  don't  remember  no  one 
but  the  'postle  John  as  enjoyed  loafin'  about  in  the  bushes 
with  no  raiment  nor  nothin'.  But  in  those  days,  yaou 
know,  sonny,  folks  went  naked  for  the  most  part  ;  least 
wise,  from  all  I  can  make  out,  they  didn't  kiver  thimselves 
any  more'n  they  had  to  ;  but — " 

"  I  think  I  will  have  to  run  home  now,"  Denny  said  ; 
"  our  folks  will  be  very  angry,  and  think  I  stayed  away. 
Good-night." 

"  Well,  that's  a  fact,  though  yaou  might  a  spoke 
sooner,"  ejaculated  the  deliverer,  as  the  figure  of  Denny 
fled  over  the  rise  in  the  road.  Sereno  Mapes  was  the 
Deacon's,  Dilly  Dane's  father's,  "hired  man,"  and  had 
been  with  the  family  since  childhood.  Dr.  Marbury  was 
just  on  the  point  of  driving  out  of  the  lane  when  Denny 
came  panting  in.  There  was  hot  indignation  in  the  house 
hold  when  the  story  was  told,  and  the  indignant  Doctor 
declared  that  this  odious  persecution  of  his  boy  had  gone 
far  enough.  He  would  himself  go  to  the  school  the  next 


134  THE  ALIENS. 

day  and  teach  that  scamp  Kennel  a  lesson.  When  Denny 
marched  into  school  the  next  morning  there  was  a  subdued 
titter  among  the  boys,  and  a  good  deal  of  wonder  when 
the  Doctor  followed.  He  bowed  grimly  to  the  teacher, 
and  said  : 

"  I  have  come  to  say  a  word  to  you  as  the  teacher  of 
this  school,  and  these  boys  as  your  pupils.  Years  ago  I 
taught  in  this  school  myself.  I  know  something  of  what 
boys  are,  but  in  all  my  experience  I  never  heard  of  any 
thing  so  cruel  as  the  way  certain  boys  here  have  set  them 
selves  on  Denis  Boyne."  Then  he  rehearsed  such  of  the 
lad's  miseries  as  he  had  heard  from  Denny  and  gathered 
from  the  neighbors.  "  From  the  first  day  of  his  coming 
until  now  you  have  made  his  school-life  a  misery.  You 
first  tried  to  beat  him,  and,  when  you  found  he  could  take 
his  own  part,  then  you  set  to  work  to  prejudice  his  teachers 
against  him.  You  have  laid  plots  to  make  him  appear  a 
thief  ;  you  have  put  lost  articles  in  his  desk  ;  you  have 
refused  him  equality  in  your  games  until  his  cleverness 
compelled  you  to  let  him  share  them.  Now,  this  must 
stop.  If  the  teacher  is  unable  to  make  you  act  like 
decent  and  well-reared  boys,  I  shall  find  means  to  do 
it." 

When  the  Doctor  stopped,  the  teacher  said,  in  some 
embarrassment : 

"  Dr.  Marbury,  Denis  has  been  expelled  from  this 
school.  I  have  the  letter  here,  which  I  meant  to  send  you 
to-day  with  his  books." 

"  Expelled,  Miss  Kimball  !     What  do  you  mean  ? " 

The  teacher  explained  the  scene  in  the  school-room, 
and  the  penalty  she  had  prescribed,  and  concluded  :  "  I 
laid  the  case  before  Mr.  Kennel,  the  President  of  the 
Trustees.  He  approved  of  the  dismissal  and  signed  it. 
Here  it  is." 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY.  135 

The  Doctor  opened  the  envelope  and  read  it  through 
slowly. 

"  Very  well,  Miss  Kimball.  Denis,  you  will  take  your 
accustomed  place,  and  remain  until  I  come  back." 

With  this,  bowing  in  the  most  stately  fashion  to  the 
astonished  mistress,  the  Doctor  put  his  spectacles  in  his 
pocket  and  strode  out.  He  drove  to  the  Kennel  farm,  a 
mile  or  more  distant.  The  owner  was  in  the  field,  and, 
following  him  thither,  the  Doctor  found  him  cutting  corn. 
The  compliments  of  the  day  were  passed  with  urbane 
gravity  on  the  Doctor's  part,  and  with  repressed  wonder 
on  that  of  Mr.  Kennel,  when  the  former  said  : 

"  I  have  come  to  tell  you  that  I  shall  have  to  make  out 
a  warrant  for  your  son  Arthur." 

"  A  warrant  for  Arthur !     What  has  he  done  ? " 

"  He  stole  the  clothes  of  my  adopted  son  last  night." 

"Ah  !  that  was  only  a  joke." 

"  But  it  is  not  a  joke  in  law,  I  assure  you.  He  will 
certainly  be  punished  severely  for  it." 

Kennel,  who  had  never  before  seen  Dr.  Marbury  in  his 
rfile  of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  changed  color  at  this,  and 
cried  out  remonstratingly : 

"  Come,  come,  Doctor,  you  wouldn't  act  like  that  with 
a  neighbor.  You  know  very  well  that  my  boy  only  meant 
it  as  a  joke.  The  clothes  are  at  the  school-house  now,  and 
I  will  have  them  sent  back." 

"  But,  if  you  thought  it  a  joke,  how  could  you  make 
Denis's  absence  from  school  such  a  serious  matter,  and 
sign  this  order  of  expulsion  ? "  and  the  Doctor  held  out 
the  paper  the  teacher  had  given  him. 

Kennel  took  the  paper,  read  it  attentively,  as  if  he  had 
never  seen  it  before,  scratched  his  head  in  perplexity,  and 
then  said  : 

"Well,  now,  Doctor,  I  didn't  think  of  that  having  any- 


1 36  THE  ALIENS. 

thing  to  do  with  the  other  affair.  Denis,  you  know,  is  a 
bad,  vicious  boy  ;  he  has  been  the  pest  of  the  school,  and 
is  corrupting  the  other  children  by  his  ways." 

"  There,  there,  Kennel,  that  will  do.  I  don't  know 
where  you  learn  all  this,  but,  whoever  your  authority  is,  he 
or  she  is  a  liar  and  a  sneak.  Denis  can't  be  at  school  any 
thing  else  than  he  is  at  home — a  high-spirited,  tender, 
truthful,  manly  fellow — and,  I  may  add,  I  don't  know  a 
child  in  this  district  that  is  his  superior  in  any  of  the  quali- 
*ties  that  mark  a  lovable,  obedient  child.  But  I'm  not  here 
to  discuss  the  merits  of  the  boy.  This  expulsion  must  be 
withdrawn,  and  an  apology  made  to  Denis  before  the  whole 
school — now — this  morning,  or  your  son  goes  to  the  jail 
for  malefactors." 

Dr.  Marbury's  reputation  was  well  known  to  Kennel, 
and,  though  the  humiliation  was  bitter,  he  was  forced  to 
do  it  in  the  end.  He  got  into  the  Doctor's  gig,  drove  to 
the  school,  and,  to  the  amazement  of  the  open-mouthed 
scholars,  said  : 

"  I  find  that  an  injustice  has  been  done  to  Denis  Boyne. 
I  signed  an  order  for  his  expulsion,  without  knowing  all 
the  particulars.  I  revoke  that  expulsion,  and  I  cordially 
assure  Denis  that  his  conduct  merits  praise  instead  of 
blame." 

Here  he  paused,  perspiring  profusely,  and,  beckoning 
to  his  son  Arthur,  whose  eyes  had  been  fastened  on  his 
father  in  wonder,  he  resumed,  as  his  hand  rested  on  his 
son's  shoulder : 

"  I  hope  the  rest  of  the  boys  will  take  warning  from 
the  lesson  my  son  is  now  learning.  Arthur,  go  to  Denis 
and  ask  his  pardon.  Go  !  " 

The  lad  slunk  down  the  aisle,  amid  the  craning  of  necks 
and  subdued  titters,  until  he  stood  by  Denny's  side,  who 
was  blushing  very  red  and  looking  very  sheepish.  Arthur 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY.  137 

found  his  tongue  tied,  however,  and  Denny  generously 
held  out  his  hand,  accepting  the  stuttering  monosyllables 
of  the  other  as  the  exacted  apology.  Thereafter,  for  a 
time,  Denny  was  suffered  to  go  his  way  in  silence.  He 
found  no  more  dead  snakes  in  his  dinner-basket ;  no  pins 
on  his  seat ;  nor  the  leaves  of  his  books  glued  together  ; 
nor  any  of  the  malevolent  pranks  that  boys  play  upon  those 
they  hate  and  fear.  He  was  let  ceremoniously  alone  by 
Arthur  and  his  coterie,  who  pointedly  refused  to  join  in 
games  that  included  the  Alien.  He  was  excluded  from 
wintergreen  picnics,  and  denied  invitation  to  the  Saturday 
jaunts  to  the  lake.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  teacher 
came  to  regard  him  as  her  best  pupil.  He  stood  at  the 
head  of  most  of  the  classes,  and  it  was  conceded  that  he 
was  sure  of  the  great  prize  to  be  awarded  to  the  pupil  tak 
ing  the  most  merit-marks  at  the  end  of  the  term. 

There  was  something  unboyishly  malignant  in  the  per 
tinacity  of  Arthur's  hatred  of  his  rival.  Though  he  had 
ceased  his  former  taunting  and  underhand  trickery,  he  was 
none  the  less  intent  on  humiliating  his  enemy.  After  the 
apology  incident,  he  had  set  himself  to  work  to  breed  hatred 
between  Oswald  and  Denny.  Oswald  was  no  longer  called 
"  Dutchy."  He  was  invited  to  all  the  select  games  led  by 
Arthur,  and  his  mind  filled  with  grievances  against  his 
fellow- Alien.  Oswald  was  very  diligent  in  his  mathematics, 
and  felt  sure  of  gaining  the  prize  in  that  branch.  One 
morning,  just  before  the  decisions  were  announced,  the 
teacher,  on  examining  her  books,  found  that  they  had  been 
tampered  with.  Each  day  it  was  her  custom  to  enter  the 
marks  against  each  name.  She  found  that  some  one  had 
erased  those  against  Oswald's  and  increased  those  before 
Denny's.  The  attempt  was  a  very  stupid  one,  for,  of 
course,  the  increase  for  Denny  could  do  him  no  good,  nor 
the  erasure  of  Oswald's  do  him  material  harm,  unless  the 


138  THE  ALIENS. 

next  highest  number  happened  to  be  very  nearly  the 
same. 

But,  on  examination,  the  next  highest — Dilly  Dane's — 
the  score  was  found  to  have  been  increased  by  marks  inter 
lined.  The  obvious  inference  would  be  that  Denis  had 
tampered  with  the  books.  But,  as  the  work  had  been 
done  so  bunglingly,  he  could  not  hope  to  benefit  by  the 
plot.  When  the  school  was  dismissed  for  the  day,  the 
teacher  called  Denis  to  the  desk  and  asked  him  to  help 
her  with  some  tallying.  She  read  a  long  list  of  names,  and 
directed  him  to  make  the  marks  such  as  she  used  in  keep 
ing  the  standings.  When  he  had  gone  she  examined  the 
work,  and  compared  the  characters  with  those  forged  in 
her  book.  They  were  altogether  unlike,  and  she  was  con 
firmed  in  her  belief  that  the  trick  had  been  played  by 
some  one  who  wished  Denis  harm.  During  the  last  two 
weeks  of  the  term,  Oswald,  confident  in  his  lead,  neglected 
his  classes,  and  Dilly  Dane  carried  all  the  marks.  The 
teacher  was  uncertain  as  to  the  number  Oswald  had  been 
falsely  accredited,  but,  as  well  as  she  could  judge,  the 
girl's  number  was  one  or  two  more  than  the  boy's.  Hence, 
when  the  day  came  and  she  announced  the  awards,  there 
was  bitter  disappointment  when  Denis  Boyne  and  Cordelia 
Dane  were  declared  the  victors,  the  teacher  explaining  be 
fore  the  assembled  parents  and  friends  the  forgeries  she 
had  found  in  her  books.  When  school  was  dismissed, 
Arthur  ran  to  Oswald,  crying,  in  a  voice  that  every  one 
could  hear : 

"  There,  you  see  how  that  sneak  has  cheated  you.  He 
put  those  marks  in  the  book,  can't  you  see  ?  I'd  lick  him 
if  I  were  you." 

Now,  it  so  happened  that  all  the  family,  including  Dr. 
Marbury,  Aunt  Selina,  Norah,  and  two  relatives  visiting 
at  the  house,  had  driven  up  to  witness  the  last  day's  cere- 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY. 


139 


monies.  The  vehicle  could  only  hold  this  party,  and 
Denny  was  to  walk  home.  As  he  reached  the  green  just 
beyond  the  tavern  corner,  he  heard  a  shout  behind  him. 
Turning,  he  saw  Arthur,  Oswald,  and  half-a-dozen  more 
of  the  boys  coming  after  him.  He  turned  and  waited. 
It  was  the  last  day  of  the  term,  and  the  boys  felt  quite 
free  to  do  as  they  pleased.  So,  when  they  reached  Denny, 
Arthur  said,  tauntingly  : 

"Where's  your  stolen  prize,  Paddy?  Oswald's  going 
to  thrash  you  for  cheating  him.  You  dasent  fight  him." 

"  You're  a  coward  as  well  as  a  thief !  "  shouted  Oswald, 
squaring  up  to  Denny.  Before  Oswald  could  reach  him, 
Denny  sprang  into  the  air,  very  much  as  he  had  seen  the 
game-cock  in  the  farm-yard  at  home,  and  planted  his  fist 
on  the  other's  nose.  Oswald  reeled  and  turned,  and  the 
blood  began  to  flow  profusely.  At  this  he  set  up  a  lugu 
brious  howl,  while  the  others  whipped  out  their  handker 
chiefs  and  soothed  him  into  quiet.  Denis,  turning  on  his 
heel,  started  to  walk  on,  when  he  was  grabbed  by  the  rest 
of  the  boys,  his  head  battered,  and  in  the  melee  he  was 
carried  to  the  ground,  Arthur  Kennel's  knees  planted  on 
his  breast,  and  his  fingers  clenched  in  his  hair. 

"  Now,  you  damned  Irish  sneak,  you'll  make  me  apolo 
gize,  will  you  ?  " — whack,  whack,  whack — mingled  kicks 
from  the  others  on  the  sides  of  the  prostrate  victim. 
"  I've  a  good  notion  to  choke  your  dirty  Irish  breath  out 
of  you,  you  low-lived  beggar  bog-trotter.  There,  eat  dirt, 
as  you  do  in  Paddyland  !  "  and  he  held  a  handful  of  clay 
over  Denny's  lips  ! 

"  Let's  put  him  in  the  pond  ! "  suggested  one  of  the 
imps.  "  He  likes  water." 

"  No,  let's  tie  him  on  the  snake-bushes  ;  he  likes  ani 
mals,"  interposed  another ;  and,  picking  the  insensible  boy 
up  by  the  head,  heels,  and  arms,  they  flung  him  over  the  rail 


1 40  THE  ALIENS. 

fence,  and,  dragging  him  by  the  heels,  bore  down  toward 
the  edge  of  the  upper  dam,  where  the  water-snakes  were 
often  seen  coiled  in  masses  on  the  gnarled  branches  of 
the  willows.  Denny  was  mercifully  unconscious  of  his 
surroundings,  but  his  inquisitors  declared  he  was  "  sham 
ming."  His  head  had  been  hammered  so  fiercely  that  he 
was  quite  dazed.  When  he  gained  consciousness  it  was 
quite  dark.  His  limbs  were  stiff  and  sore,  and,  in  the  ef 
fort  to  move,  excruciating  pains  shot  through  him.  His 
arms  were  pinioned,  but  the  bonds  broke  so  soon  as  he 
could  exert  his  muscles.  His  legs  were  also  bound,  but 
with  his  arms  free  he  reached  down  and  broke  the  thongs 
— slender  willow  boughs.  He  seemed  to  be  lodged  in  a 
clump  of  bushes.  The  darkness  had  no  terror  for  him  at 
first.  He  could  hear  the  low  murmuring  plash  of  water, 
and  thought  for  a  moment  he  was  in  the  apple-trees  skirt 
ing  the  Marbury  brook.  But  he  could  see  no  light. 

He  was  too  stiff  and  sore  to  move,  and  after  an  effort  laid 
his  head  against  the  branch  to  rest  and  collect  himself. 
His  senses  were  dull,  and  he  had  no  idea  how  long  he  had 
rested,  when  he  heard  voices  in  the  darkness  behind  him. 
They  were  loud  and  unfamiliar.  He  turned  and  could 
see  lights  gleaming  in  the  strangest  way  through  the 
leaves.  Where  was  he  ?  He  had  lost  all  remembrance  of 
the  evening  attack.  His  head  throbbed,  and  his  eyes 
ached.  He  strove  to  raise  his  voice ;  but  he  might  as  well 
have  been  dumb,  for  he  only  made  a  hoarse  clamor  that 
died  away  within  a  few  feet  of  him.  Then  there  was  a 
lull  in  the  voices.  He  heard  the  bushes  near  him  brushed 
aside  abruptly.  He  heard  no  voice,  but  some  one  seemed 
breaking  through  the  dark  wall  of  foliage.  He  turned  as 
the  stump  beneath  him  shook.  Four  fiery  eyes  were 
above  him,  glaring  down  at  him.  He  choked,  tried  to 
seize  the  limbs,  but  slid  down — down  ;  a  panic  was  upon 


YOUNG  BARBARIANS  AT  PLAY.  141 

him,  and  the  weak  power  remaining  was  not  enough  to 
brace  his  muscles  against  the  fall,  while  his  senses  were 
frozen  by  the  horrible  apparition  at  his  shoulder. 

When  the  waters  closed  above  him  as  he  sank,  there 
was  a  delightful  sensation  of  safety  and  the  luxury  of  ab 
solute  physical  rest.  He  was  hardly  conscious  that  he  was 
in  water.  He  vaguely  and  deliciously  felt  that  his  tortured 
muscles  were  no  longer  strained,  that  his  aching  eyes  no 
longer  rested  on  the  phantoms  glaring  at  him  ;  but,  as  the 
water  filled  his  lungs,  and  breathing  became  impossible, 
the  actual  situation  darted  into  his  jaded  brain.  He  rose 
to  the  surface  and  cast  an  eager  glance  about  him  :  Im 
penetrable  darkness,  save  the  distant  glimmer  of  the  mill. 
Then  he  realized  his  whereabout.  He  was  in  the  snake 
swamp.  A  deadly  terror  smote  him.  Perhaps  the  snakes 
were  clinging  about  him.  He  struck  out  with  his  arms. 
His  hands  came  in  contact  with  clammy,  hideous  things. 

Were  they  the  dreadful  snakes  he  had  often  seen  sun 
ning  themselves  at  noonday  ?  No,  his  woodcraft  taught  him 
better.  Snakes  do  not  remain  in  the  open  air  at  night. 
But  perhaps  water-snakes  might.  He  had  seen  fishermen 
bring  them  up  when  eel-fishing  in  Devil's  Lake.  Then 
the  horror  of  touching  them  overmastered  the  terror  of 
sinking,  and  he  became  inert  and  sank  limply  into  the 
dark,  slimy  water.  But  then  a  new  terror  awoke.  A 
water-snake  is  more  powerful  the  deeper  it  goes  under  the 
surface.  He  had  often  seen  them  in  the  Fern  spring 
wind  their  coils  about  large  stones  and  move  them  easily. 
This  stirred  him  like  an  electric  shock,  and  he  struck  out 
vigorously.  All  this  time,  however,  he  had  been  moving 
from  the  roots  of  the  trees,  and  when  he  reached  the  sur 
face  he  was  far  into  the  pond,  carried  along  quite  swiftly. 
But  now  he  can  struggle  no  longer;  the  interval  below  the 
surface  has  exhausted  his  already  sorely  tried  powers,  and, 


142  THE  ALIENS. 

only  conscious  of  his  peril,  he  throws  himself  on  his  back 
and  floats  dreamily  under  the  twinkling  merry  stars  and 
the  misty  sky.  He  is  a  good  swimmer,  and  is  insensible 
to  the  effort  keeping  him  afloat.  He  thinks  he  hears 
Norah  calling  him,  and  makes  an  effort  to  cry  out.  He 
has  lost  his  voice  and  can  not  utter  a  sound.  His  ears 
are  filled  with  a  gentle  murmur.  The  stars  blink  in  fan 
tastic  derision  ;  the  dreamy  cadence  of  some  familiar  har 
mony  mingles  with  the  confused  noises  in  his  ears.  Sud 
denly  his  head  is  pressed — crushed  down — down — down 
— the  stars  disappear — he  sees  an  unfathomable  gulf — and 
he  sees  and  hears  no  more — feels  no  more ! 


CHAPTER   IX. 

AN    ELDRITCH    COMEDY. 

IF  transmigration  were  scientifically  established,  I 
should  venture  the  belief  that  the  ferocious  traits  of  the 
Comanches  take  possession  of  boys  between  the  ages  of 
ten  and  seventeen.  The  helpless,  the  unoffending,  the 
gentle,  seem  to  make  no  appeal  to  the  species  between 
those  years.  Torture  for  the  sake  of  torment  seems  a 
pleasure  to  them.  I  have  seen  mild-eyed  cherubic  urchins, 
models  at  home,  of  the  discreet  and  well-behaved,  who,  in 
the  company  of  their  kind,  were  as  fecund  in  cruelties  to 
birds,  beasts,  and  comrades  as  the  myrmidons  of  Philip  II, 
who  sought  court  favor  by  the  number  and  novelty  of  the 
forms  by  which  the  human  body  could  be  tortured  without 
taking  life  at  once.  The  very  lads  who  wrought  Denny 
all  his  misery  were  ready  to  beseech  his  aid  in  their  les 
sons,  and  ask  his  help  in  climbing  the  dizzy  branches  of 


AN  ELDRITCH  COMEDY.  !43 

the  tallest  trees  on  the  Marbury  hills.  Having  secured 
their  victim  in  a  place  where  his  terror  rather  than  the 
improvised  bonds  would  be  certain  to  deprive  him  of  his 
faculties,  Arthur  and  his  companions  quitted  the  edges  of 
the  pond  to  concert  the  climax  of  their  prank.  It  was 
far  from  their  purpose  to  put  the  prisoner's  life  in  peril. 

"  But,"  suggested  one,  "  what  if  the  snakes  really 
should  come  out  ? " 

"  Pshaw  !  "  interposed  Arthur,  contemptuously  ;  "  no 
snake  leaves  his  hole  after  sundown.  Besides,  snakes  can't 
see  in  the  dark.  I've  often  seen  my  dog  Boone  drag  them 
from  under  the  barn  at  night,  and  when  I  called  him  off 
they  laid  quite  still,  blind  as  bats." 

So  it  was  arranged  that  the  boys  should  all  go  home  to 
supper,  and  come  back  just  after  dark  supplied  with  sheets 
and  pumpkin  lanterns  to  give  Denny  a  final  fright,  and 
then  conduct  him  home  in  "  Os  "  Ritter's  "  sulky,"  as  the 
hand-cart  in  which  the  Ritter  garden-stuff  was  carried  to 
market  was  facetiously  called  by  the  natives.  They 
were  all  lads  about  Denny's  age — Arthur,  the  eldest,  pass 
ing  eighteen.  Boy-like,  they  never  thought  of  a  tragic  end 
ing  to  their  joke.  The  detested  Alien  would  be  taught  a 
lesson,  and  in  the  future  could  be  browbeaten  by  a  mere 
threat  of  repeating  the  jocularity.  They  knew  his  abject 
terror  of  snakes,  and  they  had  with  the  inexplicable  pene 
tration  of  boys  remarked  his  extraordinary  credulity  in 
the  supernatural.  He  had  been  heard  to  allude,  quite  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  to  the  "  faeries  "  in  the  Wintergreen  wood, 
and  in  his  lessons  he  had  repeatedly  shown  his  supersti 
tious  terror  of  ghosts.  Now,  having  none  of  the  horror  of 
snakes  that  Denny  felt,  they  could  not  realize  the  serious 
danger  they  were  exposing  their  comrade  to  in  fastening 
him  in  the  haunt  of  the  coiling  reptiles.  None  of  the 
boys  particularly  feared  snakes.  When  other  sports  failed, 
7 


144 


THE  ALIENS, 


they  often  came  down  to  the  black  willows  to  make  tar 
gets  of  the  lazy  monsters  knotted  about  the  gnarled  roots' 
of  the  trees.  Some  adventurous  spirits  among  them 
aroused  the  admiring  horror  of  the  others  by  dexterously 
catching  the  sluggish  monsters  by  the  neck  and  snapping 
the  ends  of  their  tails  off  in  a  "  crack  of  the  whip,"  as  the 
pastime  was  called.  To  pranks  of  this  sort  Denny  could 
never  be  brought,  and  it  was  remarked  that  in  games  re 
quiring  clasping  hands  he  shrank  back  shuddering  from 
touching  those  that  had  been  upon  the  snakes. 

Hence,  beside  the  fact  that  boys  seem  to  lack  the 
reasoning  faculty,  or  rather  lack  the  apprehension  of 
corollary,  or  consequence  of  ideas,  this  group  of  merry 
makers  saw  nothing  serious  in  subjecting  such  an  im 
pressionable  nature  as  Denny's  to  an  ordeal  which  the 
maturer  mind  could  foresee  would  result  in  maniacy, 
if  not  something  more  tragic.  They  scampered  off  home 
ward  in  the  twilight,  hilarious  over  the  comedy  to  be 
acted  when  they  returned  to  the  rendezvous.  The  pro 
curing  of  the  pumpkins  and  candles,  and  the  necessity 
for  slipping  off  unnoticed,  delayed  the  gathering.  It 
was  after  nine  o'clock  when  the  band,  recruited  by 
half  a  dozen  more  gathered  from  the  thickly  clustering 
farm-houses,  began  to  set  the  sylvan  scene  in  order  for 
the  elfin  pranks  they  meditated.  Some  came  prepared 
with  sheets,  others  with  lanterns,  others  again  with  pump 
kins  with  the  interior  scooped  out,  and  so  cut  as  to  re 
semble  the  face  of  a  human  monster  when  a  candle  was 
lighted  inside.  When  these  various  devices  were  well 
arranged,  improvised  lanterns  were  set  on  the  limbs  of 
the  trees,  and  the  spectacle  was  ghostly  enough  to  freeze 
the  blood  of  a  less  susceptible  supernaturalist  than  poor 
Denny. 

Arthur  and  Oswald,  their  bodies  covered  with  sheets, 


AN  ELDRITCH  COMEDY.  145 

and  their  heads  decorated  with  the  pumpkins,  were  then 
dispatched  into  the  clump  of  willows,  to  unbind  the  vic 
tim  and  set  him  down  in  the  center  of  this  hideous  circle. 
When,  a  few  minutes  later,  Arthur,  his  mask  gone,  and  the 
sheet  streaming  behind  him,  re-appeared  with  his  face  white, 
and  his  eyes  staring  in  affright,  the  rest  of  the  mummers 
thought  it  part  of  the  play  and  began  a  mad  dance. 

"  O  boys,  boys,  he's  drowned  !  he's  drowned  !  O  my 
God  !  O — "  But  his  words  froze  on  his  lips.  Just  out 
side  the  circle  he  caught  sight  of  a  white  figure  with  hair 
hanging  down  in  wild  disorder  and  two  arms  raised  in  a 
terror  that  seemed  a  weird  invocation. 

"  Look— look  !  O  my  God,  look  there  !  "  and  Ar 
thur  sank  cowering  on  the  ground,  covering  his  face  with 
the  sheet.  The  others  rushed  into  a  compact  mass,  dazed 
and  uncomprehending.  The  few  who  were  facing  the  fig 
ure  fled  toward  the  mill  bridge,  the  others  bent  over  Ar 
thur,  who  lay  writhing  upon  the  ground. 

"  What  in  thunder's  the  matter,  Art  ?  " 

"  Are  you  making  game  of  us  now  ?  " 

They  had  stripped  the  sheet  from  his  face,  and,  some 
what  re-assured  by  the  tones  of  his  comrades,  he  ventured 
to  turn  his  head  ;  then,  as  his  eye  fell  on  the  white  figure, 
staring  with  wild  eyes,  but  motionless,  the  rest  followed  his 
gaze. 

"  Good  God  !  what  is  it  ? " 

Then  they  all  with  one  accord  broke  and  fled. 

"  Ah,  don't  leave  me — don't,  don't !  "  and  Arthur,  half 
crawling,  half  running,  fled  with  the  terrified  maskers. 
The  fallen  lantern  went  out,  and  the  place  was  left  in  dark 
ness.  Then,  as  the  boys  ran,  they  heard  a  dreadful  shriek 
— a  cry  so  despairing  and  full  of  horror  that  some  of 
them  were  arrested  in  their  flight  and  would  have  hurried 
back  if  one  of  the  elder  boys  hadn't  shouted  : 


146  THE  ALIENS. 

"  It's  Clara  Roe's  ghost !  " 

Clara  Roe  had  been  found  drowned  in  the  pond  a  few 
years  before,  and  there  was  a  legend  that  her  ghost  had 
been  seen  chasing  fireflies  on  the  mill  meadow.  None  of 
the  flying  group  missed  Oswald,  and  Arthur  was  too  much 
terrified  to  think  of  him.  He  did  try  to  say  something 
to  his  nearest  companion,  but  his  teeth  chattered  and  he 
could  not  articulate.  In  a  few  minutes  the  pond  road  and 
the  willow  banks  were  silent  and  dark,  and  slowly  the 
lights  in  the  farm  windows  went  out. 

To  make  much  of  Denny's  well-doing  at  school,  Aunt 
Selina  had  invited  company,  and  the  table  was  spread  for 
supper  in  great  gala.  Norah  was  very  proud  and  happy 
when  the  visitors  took  up  the  theme  of  Denny's  prodigies, 
prophesying  great  things  for  a  boy  who  could  eclipse  such 
a  smart  school  as  the  Marbury  Academy.  The  good  Doc 
tor  and  Aunt  Selina  were  as  proud  over  the  boy's  conquest 
as  if  he  had  been  flesh  and  blood  of  their  own,  and  kept 
up  the  topic  until  the  supper -table  was  surrounded. 
Denny's  absence  had  not  been  remarked,  as  it  was 
thought  he  had  stopped  for  the  last  day's  games  and  fare 
wells  the  boys  usually  prolonged  on  these  occasions. 
But  when  the  feast  was  ended,  and  he  had  not  come, 
there  was  a  tone  of  offended  affection  in  the  Doctor's 
mild  remonstrance.  Norah  had  gone  down  the  lane  to 
the  road  and  asked  a  neighbor  passing  schoolward  to  hurry 
the  boy  in  case  he  was  seen  dawdling  on  the  road. 

At  nine  o'clock  the  company  broke  up,  and  the  family 
began  to  feel  real  alarm.  The  Marbury  homestead  was  as  a 
rule  closed  and  the  lights  put  out  by  nine  o'clock  ;  but  to 
night  there  was  no  thought  of  bed.  Denny  had  occasion 
ally  stopped  to  supper  at  the  Danes's,  but  when  he  did  his 
purpose  was  always  known  beforehand.  Norah  thought 
that  perhaps  he  had  been  tempted  to  remain  to-night,  the 


AN  ELDRITCH  COMEDY. 


147 


last  of  the  term,  and  the  family  agreed  with  her  that  this 
was  the  explanation  of  his  absence.  This,  however,  was 
so  unlike  Denny  that  Norah  soon  set  that  hope  aside  and 
grew  restless.  As  the  time  passed,  tears  came  into  her 
eyes,  and  she  sat  in  the  corner  of  the  room  by  the  window 
to  conceal  her  trouble.  As  it  grew  too  dark  to  see  as  far 
as  the  road,  she  went  down  the  lane  and  watched  the  long, 
straight  line  of  highway  westward,  as  it  became  more  and 
more  indistinct  in  the  falling  darkness  of  the  September 
evening.  When  it  was  quite  dark,  she  returned  to  her 
post  at  the  window,  her  eyes  red  and  swollen  with  tears. 
Even  Aunt  Selina  grew  fretful,  and  suggested  that  Jonas, 
the  man,  be  sent  to  Deacon  Dane's  to  end  the  suspense. 
The  Doctor  pooh-poohed  this.  Denis  was  a  big  boy.  He 
knew  how  to  take  care  of  himself.  At  any  rate,  they 
might  give  him  till  ten  o'clock ;  then,  if  he  didn't  come, 
Barney  could  be  hitched  up  and  Jonas  might  drive  up  the 
road  to  the  tavern  and  inquire.  Ten  o'clock  had  now 
come.  Norah  sat  at  the  window,  her  head  leaning  on  the 
broad  sill.  She  must  have  fallen  into  a  doze,  for  she  sud 
denly  started  up  crying  like  one  in  sleep  : 

"Ah  !  he's  sinking,  he's  sinking  !  " 

The  voice  rang  out  in  a  piercing  shriek,  as  she  turned 
imploringly  to  the  startled  group,  the  horror  of  conviction 
and  absolute  certainty  of  seeing  what  she  said  in  her  face. 

"  Norah,  child,  what  is  it  ?  Are  you  dreaming  on  your 
feet  ?  "  asked  the  Doctor  gently,  putting  his  hand  on  her 
shoulder. 

She  shuddered,  looking  at  him  in  a  dazed,  perplexed 
way,  then  turning  and  peering  through  the  window  into 
the  darkness  ;  then  at  the  floor  in  a  mystified  uncertainty. 

"  Ah !  my  God  !  I  saw — I  saw  wather,  black,  black 
wather,  and  bushes  and  slimy  snakes,  and  I  saw  Denny 
among  them,  and  then  I  saw  him  sinking.  Ah  !  for  the 


148  THE  ALIENS. 

love  of  God  come  to  him  ;  come,  come !  "  She  broke  from 
the  Doctor;  darted  through  the  doorway,  out  into  the 
darkness,  before  the  amazed  group  could  arrest  her.  The 
horse  had  been  harnessed,  and  stood  at  the  gate.  But  she 
shot  by,  taking  no  heed.  She  was  hid  in  the  darkness 
when  the  Doctor  reached  the  gate.  He  lost  no  time  in 
getting  into  the  vehicle,  and,  without  waiting  for  Jonas, 
drove  furiously  down  the  lane.  It  was  a  dark  but  starry 
night.  The  broad  road  lay  smooth  before  him,  and  he 
put  the  whip  to  Barney.  Presently  he  caught  a  glimpse 
of  a  flying  figure. 

"  Norah,  Norah,  my  child,  get  in  here  with  me.  Norah, 
I  say.  It  is  I." 

No  answer.  What  could  it  mean  ?  Had  she  gone  in 
sane  ?  Had  she  the  curious  clairvoyance  sometimes  given 
the  unsettled  intellect  ?  Why  hadn't  he  waited  for  Jonas  ? 
It  was  too  late  to  go  back  now.  He  would  readily  overtake 
her,  for  she  would  soon  be  exhausted.  It  was  a  full  mile 
to  the  school.  He  had  already  traversed  half  the  distance, 
but  he  seemed  no  nearer  overtaking  her.  Or  had  she  fallen 
by  the  way,  and  had  he  passed  her  ?  He  halted  the  horse, 
agitated  and  in  terror.  He  got  out  and  listened.  No 
sound !  He  bent  down  and  put  his  ear  to  the  ground. 
No  sound!  He  took  out  his  night-lantern — always  in  the 
gig — and  waved  it  as  a  signal.  No  response !  He  got  in 
again,  and  drove  at  the  top  of  poor  old  Barney's  speed. 
Once  he  thought  he  heard  a  hoarse  shriek  and  stopped  ; 
but  there  was  no  repetition,  and  he  drove  on.  When  he 
reached  the  tavern,  lights  streamed  out  of  the  windows. 
He  halted  and  called  out.  Some  one  came  to  the  door. 

"  Hello !     What's  wanted  ?  "  a  voice  shouted. 

"  Have  you  seen — "  Here  the  poor  Doctor  stopped 
confusedly.  It  wouldn't  do  to  ask  for  Norah.  He  didn't 
like  to  expose  her  strange  freak  to  the  gossip  of  the  com- 


AN  ELDRITCH  COMEDY. 


149 


munity.     "  Have  you  seen  young  Denis  here  this  even- 

ing?" 

"  Denis  Boyne,  of  Marburys  ? "  asked  the  voice,  as  the 
owner  came  forward  to  the  gig.  "  No,  I  haven't  seen  the 
boy  since  he  passed  this  afternoon  from  school." 

"  He  hasn't  been  home  yet,  and  we  became  alarmed. 
Where  is  Oswald  ?  Perhaps  he  may  know  something  about 
him." 

The  Doctor  had  wholly  lost  patience  when,  after  a 
long  delay,  Ritter  himself  came  to  the  door,  saying,  in 
agitation  : 

"  It  is  very  strange,  Doctor.  Oswald  isn't  to  be  found. 
He  is  always  in  bed  at  this  time,  but  nobody  has  seen  him 
since  supper.  He  must  be  at  some  of  the  neighbors,  I — " 

But,  with  an  impatient  exclamation,  the  Doctor  drove 
off,  now  thoroughly  alarmed.  Barney  must  have  enter 
tained  curious  reflections  regarding  his  master  that  night. 
Never,  during  the  years  of  his  faithful  service,  had  his 
stout  back  suffered  the  ignominy  of  a  whip  till  to-night. 
Do  his  best,  he  couldn't  get  over  the  ground  fast  enough, 
and,  when  he  drew  up  at  the  door  of  Kennel's  house,  he 
was  steaming  and  unhappy  indeed.  Kennel  himself 
opened  the  door,  after  a  cautious  parleying  that  sorely  tried 
the  Doctor's  patience.  When  he  finally  stood  revealed,  a 
tallow  candle  in  one  hand  and  an  old  blunderbuss  in  the 
other,  the  Doctor  said,  with  a  grim  smile  : 

"  Don't  be  afraid.  I'm  not  going  to  rob  you.  I  come 
to  ask  Arthur  what  he  has  done  with  my  boy,  Denny." 

"  What  he  has  done  with  your  boy  ?  Why,  Doctor, 
what  do  you  mean  ? " 

The  facts  were  told,  and  the  Doctor  suggested  sending 
for  Arthur.  At  this  moment  Mrs.  Kennel  appeared,  and 
said  in  a  frightened  tone  : 

"  O  Lemuel,  Arthur  hasn't  come  back.    He  went  down 


150  THE  ALIENS. 

to  the  Denetts  after  supper  to  a  '  snap '  party,  and  I 
didn't  like  to  tell  you  he  wasn't  come." 

"  Are  you  sure  he  was  here  at  supper-time  ?  "  asked  the 
Doctor. 

"  Why,  to  be  sure  ;  he  didn't  go  away  till  all  the  chores 
were  done  ;  about  eight  o'clock,  I  should  say." 

The  Doctor  turned  and  walked  down  the  lane.  He 
was  at  the  end  of  his  resources.  That  Arthur  had  some 
thing  to  do  with  Denny's  disappearance  he  was  sure. 
Barney  gave  a  frightened  whinny  as  the  Doctor  reached 
the  hitching-post,  and  shied  from  him.  At  the  same  in 
stant  a  figure  staggered  to  the  high-barred  gate,  and, 
instead  of  removing  the  wooden  bolt,  climbed  over.  In 
the  darkness  the  Doctor  couldn't  distinguish  it,  but  he  was 
sure  it  was  young  Kennel. 

4<  Arthur,  is  that  you  ?  " 

A  husky  voice,  vibrating  with  terror  answered  : 

"  Yes,  sir— I.     I—" 

The  lantern  in  the  Doctor's  hand  was  thrust  through 
the  gate  at  the  boy's  side.  Arthur  turned  his  face  to  it,  so 
white,  so  frightened,  that  the  Doctor  wouldn't  have  recog 
nized  him. 

"  What  have  you  done  with  Denny  ?  Don't  lie  to  me. 
I  know — " 

"  O  Doctor,  I  didn't !     He  fell  in  himself.     He—" 

"Fell  in  what?" 

"  In  the  pond  by  the  snakes'  pool." 

Then,  in  a  violent  outburst  of  sobs  which  rose  to 
groans  as  the  Doctor's  hold  tightened,  he  related  the  story  : 
How  Denny,  having  thrashed  Oswald,  the  boys  had  taken 
him,  just  for  fun,  to  the  water ;  how  they  had  bandaged 
his  eyes  and  tied  him  on  the  willow  rrotch  ;  and  how  they 
had  meant  to  take  him  home  in  Oswald's  cart,  after  the 
jack-o'lantern  game.  Then  he  broke  down  and  fell  upon 


AN  ELDRITCH  COMEDY.  151 

his  knees  in  terrified  entreaty.  It  was  only  by  the  sternest 
threats  he  was  forced  to  tell  how,  in  climbing  among  the 
willows,  Denny  saw  the  jack-o 'lanterns,  and  in  his  fright 
had  fallen  into  the  water,  and  how  Oswald,  trying  to  catch 
him,  was  pulled  in  with  him.  That  he,  Arthur,  had  hur 
ried  out  to  get  the  boys  to  fetch  the  boat,  but  was  terrified 
by  the  ghost  of  Clara  Roe,  standing  on  the  edge  of  the 
boys'  ring,  with  snakes  of  fire  in  her  hair,  and  clad  in 
white. 

"  How  long  ago  was  this  ?  "  asked  the  Doctor  in  an 
guish. 

"  Twenty  minutes ;  perhaps  half  an  hour.  I  have  run 
all  the  way  from  there." 

"  You  heartless  young  ruffian,  you  have  left  the  two 
boys  to  drown !  Ah,  well !  there's  no  time  for  talk  now. 
You  must  get  into  the  gig  with  me  and  lead  me  to  the 
spot." 

The  howl  of  terror  that  followed  brought  the  parental 
Kennels  to  the  doorway,  and  a  voice  asked  : 

"  Who's  there  ?    What's  the  matter  ?  " 

"  There's  a  murderer  here,  and  you  will  do  well  to  come 
and  help  undo,  if  it's  not  too  late,  his  crime,"  said  the 
Doctor,  dragging  the  shrieking  lad  through  the  gateway. 
"  I  am  going  to  the  mill-pond,  and  you  can  follow.  Your 
son  will  be  with  me  until  I  deliver  him  to  the  lock-up." 

In  spite  of  his  struggles,  Arthur,  limp  and  groaning, 
was  lodged  in  the  gig,  and  the  Doctor  drove  off  as  the 
mother's  shrieks  for  mercy  came  ringing  down  the  lane. 
There  were  still  lights  in  the  Ritter  tavern  as  the  Doctor 
drove  past,  and  some  one  came  out  and  hallooed  ;  but  the 
Doctor  drove  straight  down  the  pretty  elm  road,  all  dark 
and  solemn.  The  water  rippled  over  the  dam,  and  the 
stars  were  reflected  on  the  dark  surface  of  the  pool,  as 
they  shot  over  the  bridge.  Tying  the  horse  near  the  road, 


152  THE  ALIENS. 

the  Doctor,  with  his  clutch  on  Arthur's  shoulder,  bade 
him  lead  the  way.  The  lantern  cast  a  slender  lance  of 
light  on  the  pathway  as  the  boy  tremblingly  advanced. 
He  pointed  to  the  clump  where  Denny  had  been  bound. 
The  Doctor  could  not  reach  it,  as  there  was  marshy 
ground  too  soft  for  his  heavy  weight. 

"  Go  in  and  see  if  there  is  any  sign  of  them." 

Shaking  like  a  man  in  ague,  the  boy  advanced,  begging 
piteously  that  the  light  might  be  held  up.  He  soon  re 
turned,  and  said,  with  chattering  teeth  : 

"  They  are  not  there — they  are  drowned.  O  Doctor, 
shall  I  be  hanged  ? " 

"Where  is  the  boat  kept  ?     Show  me  the  boat." 

The  boy,  whimpering  and  half  dead  with  terror,  pointed 
to  the  bend  in  the  bank  where  the  boat  was  kept.  He 
went  on  in  advance,  the  Doctor  lighting  the  path  from 
behind.  As  the  two  advanced,  Arthur  uttered  a  little  gasp 
of  mingled  relief  and  terror.  The  gleam  of  the  lantern  on 
the  thick  grass  fell  upon  a  figure  at  full  length.  Arthur 
ran  to  it,  but  started  back  aghast. 

"  The  ghost  !  "  he  cried,  and  fled  past  the  Doctor  like 
a  shot.  Even  before  the  light  fell  fully  upon  the  figure 
the  Doctor  felt  that  it  was  Norah.  He  set  down  the  lan 
tern  and  fell  on  his  knees  with  a  tender  cry. 

"  Norah !  O  Norah  !  how  could  you  leave  in  that 
cruel  way  ?  Didn't  you  know  that  I  was  as  anxious  about 
Denny  as  you  could  be  ?  You  have  given  me  a  grievous 
fright  by  your  wild  conduct." 

She  had  raised  her  head  when  he  set  the  light  down. 
She  had  not  been  insensible,  but  there  was  a  dazed,  luster- 
less  look  that  warned  the  Doctor  that  she  was  not  in  her 
right  mind.  She  raised  her  woful,  haggard  face  to  him 
quite  calmly,  and  said,  in  a  soft,  reproachful  voice  : 

"  We  let  him  die  and  never  raised  a  hand  ;  I  knew  he 


AN  ELDRITCH  COMEDY. 


153 


was  in  peril ;  I  saw  him  in  the  wather  ;  I  saw  the  cruel 
black  of  the  deeps,  and  I  heard  the  gurgle  in  his  throat. 
'Twas  a  dream  I  often  have — after  Denny  told  me  of  the 
cruel  things  the  boys  did  to  him  long  ago.  I  think  of 
nothing  else  ;  when  he's  away — " 

It  was  useless  to  attempt  to  re-assure  such  abandon 
ment  as  this.  The  Doctor  lifted  her  into  the  gig,  and, 
hastening  to  the  tavern,  put  her  in  the  care  of  Mrs.  Ritter. 
Then  he  got  all  the  men  about  the  place  to  turn  out  with 
lanterns  to  search  the  mill-pond.  It  was  nearly  midnight 
when  a  cap,  recognized  as  Denny's,  was  found  on  the  edge 
of  the  dam.  The  spot  under  the  willows  was  dragged 
thoroughly,  but  there  was  no  sign  of  the  body.  The  utter 
most  that  could  be  done  had  been  done,  and  near  daylight 
no  trace  of  the  lad  could  be  found.  The  miller  had  been 
warned  to  keep  the  gates  shut  until  the  pond  could  be 
more  systematically  dragged.  He  assured  the  Doctor  that 
this  was  useless,  as  the  current  in  the  pond  came  to  the 
dam,  and  everything  of  any  size  was  finally  carried  into 
the  race  and  over  the  mill-wheel. 

"  Over  the  mill-wheel !  "  gasped  the  Doctor  ;  "  when 
was  it  at  work  last  ? " 

"Wai,  let  me  see  :  I  was  a  grindin'  old  man  Warren's 
wheat  until  about  nine  last  night —  " 

"  Let  me  look  at  the  wheel  ! "  said  the  Doctor. 

They  entered  the  mill,  descended  through  the  trap, 
and  entered  the  water-sluice  in  which  the  wheel  turned. 
A  thin  veil  of  water  fell  with  a  tranquil  plash  on  the  open 
flanges  of  the  great  wheel,  and  sprinkled  through  the  slats 
to  the  pebbly  bed  below.  The  Doctor  looked  up  at  the 
great  flanges,  and  then,  finding  them  impossible  to  climb, 
asked  the  miller  to  examine  the  broad  fly  which  received 
the  falling  water.  The  miller  climbed  up,  and  as  he  looked 
down  toward  the  hub  uttered  a  loud  shout : 


154 


THE  ALIENS. 


"  By  the  heavens,  here's  the  body  !  " 

Yes,  there  Denny  lay,  with  his  feet  wedged  into  the 
hub  of  the  wheel  and  his  head  resting  on  the  outward  edge, 
just  as  he  had  glided  over  the  dam.  Floating  on  his  back 
when  the  shute  came,  he  was  unconscious  that  he  was 
going  with  the  current  toward  the  dam,  while  his  effort 
was  to  take  himself  near  the  shore.  Hence,  the  body  was 
in  a  reclining  posture,  though  almost  standing.  Hope 
sprang  into  the  Doctor's  breast  when  he  saw  that.  He 
could  not  have  been  lifeless  when  he  was  deposited  there. 
The  face  and  mouth  were  above  the  thin  stream  pouring 
into  the  wheel,  and  there  was  a  chance  of  life  yet.  It  was 
a  very  feeble  chance,  but  the  Doctor  seized  it.  The  cold 
body  was  soon  well  rubbed,  and  a  thrill  of  the  pulse,  deli 
cate  as  the  expansion  of  a  rose-leaf,  told  that  life  still  lin 
gered.  Then  remedies  of  the  simple,  old-fashioned  sort, 
fortunately  at  hand,  were  administered,  and,  when  the 
body  was  placed  in  Mrs.  Ritter's  room  in  the  tavern,  the 
Doctor  was  not  without  hope  of  rescuing  the  fleeting 
breath.  Norah  was  told  the  event,  and,  under  the  sudden 
joy,  quite  as  strange  a  transformation  came  to  pass  as 
grief  had  brought  about.  She  became  her  old  docile, 
shrinking  self,  asked  submissively  how  she  could  be  of  use, 
and  sat  down  patiently,  following  the  Doctor's  movements 
as  he  hovered  over  the  life  in  peril.  The  Kennels,  father 
and  son,  when  the  body  was  found,  fled  homeward.  Ar 
thur  was  packed  off  to  Virginia  within  the  hour,  believing 
himself  a  murderer,  and  the  family  waited  in  terror  the 
coming  of  the  ministers  of  justice  and  vengeance. 

In  his  anxiety  for  Denny  the  Doctor  had  quite  lost 
sight  of  the  missing  Oswald.  He  made  no  inquiry,  and 
perhaps  it  was  just  as  well  he  didn't,  for  it  would  have  made 
the  anguish  of  the  night  of  uncertainty  more  bitter  had  he 
learned  that  Oswald  was  in  bed  safe  and  sound  before  he 


VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT. 


155 


reached  the  willows  in  search  of  Denny.  Oswald,  fresh 
and  unterrified  by  the  horrors  that  complicated  Denny's 
disaster,  found  no  difficulty  in  reaching  the  shore.  Here, 
frightened  by  the  disappearance  of  his  comrades,  he  fled 
homeward,  and  slunk  into  the  house  unseen  by  any  one 
save  his  mother. 

Denny's  hardy  frame  finally  survived  the  maltreatment 
of  that  terrible  night,  and  he  was  presently  carried  home 
in  buoyant  convalescence,  where  you  may  be  sure  there 
was  a  very  happy  and  tender  Norah  to  make  him  forget 
the  hardships  of  the  stranger. 

When  the  winter  term  began  Denny  found  the  leader 
of  his  enemies  gone.  The  school  received  him  as  a  hero, 
and  thenceforth  he  was  not  molested  any  further  than  it 
is  the  fortune  of  lads  to  undergo  the  pranks  of  comrades. 
Oswald  could  not  forget  the  robust  refutation  Denny  had 
made  of  the  charge  of  cowardice,  and  the  two  lads  main 
tained  the  wary  neutrality  that  comes  from  a  wholesome 
dread  on  one  side  and  confident  superiority  on  the  other. 


CHAPTER   X. 

VISIONS   OF   DELIGHT. 

MERRY-MAKING  in  Marbury  was  given  over  to  the 
young  folks.  Indeed,  in  country-places  the  custom  has 
changed  but  little  to  this  day.  With  marriage  the  gayety 
of  youth  suffers  an  eclipse.  Balls  and  parties,  as  we  know 
them,  made  no  part  of  rural  life.  Young  and  old  matrons 
set  out  for  the  day  with  a  formidable  baggage  of  knitting, 
sewing,  or  what  not,  to  pass  the  hours  of  daylight  at  a  dis 
tant  neighbor's.  The  "  men-folks  "  drove  the  visitor  over 


156  THE  ALIENS. 

in  the  morning,  in  some  carefully  calculated  interval  when 
the  "  team  "  was  not  in  use,  and  in  the  evening  the  whole 
family  would  drive  over  and  take  tea.  On  rare  occasions 
a  "  quilting  bee  "  would  assemble  all  the  matrons  during 
the  day,  and  the  "men-folks"  in  the  evening.  Then  the 
affairs  of  the  township  were  settled  in  shrill  clamors  of 
revelation  and  hearsay.  Aunt  Selina  was  not  fond  of  this 
"  gadding,"  as  she  termed  it,  but  was  too  sensible  to  set 
herself  up  as  a  marplot  by  refusing  to  take  her  turn  in  vis 
itation.  It  was  a  great  day  for  Denny  when  the  return 
visit  of  the  Danes  brought  his  adored  Dilly  to  pass  the 
day.  She  came  home  with  him  from  school,  and  even  his 
beloved  blue  jays  flaunted  their  spreading  plumage  in  the 
purple  alders  in  vain  while  his  divinity  walked  demurely 
by  his  side.  He  was  lost  in  astonishment  at  his  own  silence 
— he  who  chattered  incessantly  as  a  hill  brook  at  other 
times.  The  first  visit  had  been  during  the  summer  Dilly 
rescued  him  from  his  tormentors  near  the  pond.  His 
heart  throbbed  as  he  reached  the  brookside  where  he  had 
gathered  the  violets,  and  he  longed  to  ask  her  to  stop  until 
he  could  get  a  bunch.  But  she  walked  on  very  soberly,  car 
rying  her  dinner-basket  primly  by  her  side.  The  sun  glint- 
ered  from  her  heavy  braids  as  she  moved,  and  Denny  kept 
thinking  of  a  story  his  mother  had  often  murmured  as  they 
sat  in  some  flowering  covert,  where  sunshine  fell  upon 
the  grass  in  lines  of  gold  :  how  a  lad  that  was  faithful  to 
his  mother  had  gone  to  church,  and  how  his  cloak  being 
too  warm,  he  had  innocently  mistaken  a  ray  of  sunshine 
for  a  golden  cord  and  had  flung  the  garment  on  the  shin 
ing  line,  and  how  it  rested  there  because  the  good  God 
had  meant  to  show  the  congregation  the  lad's  purity  and 
faith  ! 

These  shining  braids  Denny  felt  sure  were  made  of 
the  sunbeams   that  boy  had   mistaken   for   a  line.      He 


VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT. 


157 


wanted  to  tell  her  the  story,  wondering  if  she  would  be 
lieve  it.  He  believed  it  firmly.  When  they  came  to  the 
gulch  where  the  hills  were  cut  by  a  solemn  ravine,  he 
summoned  courage  to  show  her  a  swallow's  hamlet  in  the 
hard  clay,  and  was  in  rapture  when  she  opened  her  brown 
eyes  at  the  tameness  of  the  young  birds,  as  they  put  their 
large  beaks  out  of  the  nest  to  receive  the  crumbs  which 
Denny  always  saved  from  his  dinner  to  feed  them.  The 
old  swallows  hovered  in  scolding  groups  about  the  heads 
of  the  two  young  people,  and  Denny  said,  apologetically: 

"  They  are  only  pretending  to  be  angry  because  I  have 
brought  you."  Then,  turning  to  the  birds  with  his  hands 
full  of  crumbs,  he  said,  quite  angrily,  "  You  silly  things  ! 
don't  you  know  Dilly  ?  She  won't  hurt  you ;  she  never 
kills  birds." 

But  the  little  busy-bodies  were  not  sure  of  that,  and 
they  refused  to  come  to  his  open  hands  as  they  had  done 
every  day  during  the  rearing  of  their  broods  ;  and  Denny, 
to  punish  this  mark  of  incivility  toward  his  deity,  flung 
the  crumbs  on  the  ground,  where  presently  the  crows  be 
gan  to  dispute  them  vigorously  with  the  faithless  swal 
lows. 

"  It's  funny,  isn't  it,  Dilly,  birds  aren't  a  bit  afraid  of 
me  after  I  know  them  a  little  while  ?  I  can  bring  nearly 
all  the  birds  at  the  barn  to  my  hand  when  I  have 
crumbs." 

"  Perhaps  they  know  you  don't  mean  to  hurt  them," 
said  Dilly,  thoughtfully.  "  Birds  like  folks  that  don't  hurt 
them." 

"So  do  I,"  said  Denny,  reflectively.  "But  I  don't 
hurt  the  fairies,  and  they  never  come  to  me  now." 

"  Don't  they  ? "  said  Dilly,  eagerly.  "  How  strange  !  " 
and  then  she  looked  at  him  intently  as  the  thought  sud 
denly  struck  her,  "  but  they  never  came  to  me  at  all." 


I  j8  THE  ALIENS. 

11  Oh,  when  mother  and  I  lived  in  the  woods,"  said 
Denny,  confidently,  "  I  used  to  see  the  fairies  every  night. 
They  were  so  funny  and  small,  and  sometimes  they  had 
such  odd  dresses.  They  brought  us  good  things  to  eat. 
They  never  came  when  mother  was  cross.  She  knew  how 
to  talk  to  them.  They  don't  speak  in  our  language,  you 
know  !  If  mother  hadn't  died  I  should  have  learned  their 
speech.  It  was  such  a  droll  language,  just  like  the  birds 
when  they  stop  singing  in  the  bushes,  and  the  old  ones 
talk  to  the  young  ones !  Mother  always  talked  with  the 
fairies,  and  they  were  glad  to  do  her  bidding.  Once, 
when  I  was  bad,  she  was  going  to  give  me  to  them,  to  stay 
forever.  I  was  glad  at  first,  but  when  they  couldn't  un 
derstand  me  at  all,  and  hid  under  the  bushes,  and  shook 
the  dew  on  my  bare  neck,  I  got  frightened  and  I  ran 
away.  Mother  scolded  the  fairies,  and  they  brought 
honey  on,  oh,  such  green  leaves  !  " 

"  But  you  don't  really  believe,  Denny,  that  they  were 
fairies  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Denny,  simply  ;  "  ask  Norah." 

That  Denny  did  believe  in  them  then,  and  all  his  life,  I 
am  quite  sure.  It  is  one  of  the  articles  of  old-country  be 
lief  that  certain  natures  have  command  of  the  "  little  peo 
ple,"  as  the  folk-lore  of  the  land  styles  the  fairies.  No 
doubt  in  her  half-demented  misery  poor  Kate  had  seen 
and  counseled  with  all  Titania's  elfin  train,  and  the  im 
pression  had  been  so  vivid  in  Denny's  mind  that  he  never 
ceased  to  believe  the  fantasy  a  reality.  Dilly  was  greatly 
interested  in  the  boy's  wondrous  improvisations.  She 
listened  with  gravity,  thinking  to  herself  all  the  while  that 
it  was  no  wonder  the  sharp-witted,  hard-headed  boys  of 
the  school  badgered  him  so  unmercifully  if  he  betrayed 
these  grotesque  confidences  to  their  cynical  incredulity. 
Denny  was  a  big  boy  in  body.  He  would  be  called  a  "  young 


VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT. 


159 


gentleman  "  in  the  prematurity  of  to-day.  However,  in 
those  days  a  lad  of  eighteen  was  regarded  as  a  child, 
acted  as  a  child,  thought  as  a  child,  and  was  not  ex 
pected  to  put  away  childish  speech  and  thought  until 
far  beyond  the  time  modern  youth  have  taken  all  the 
virilities. 

"  Yes,"  continued  Denny,  quite  soberly,  "  I  should 
have  lost  mother  lots  of  times  if  the  fairies  had  not 
fetched  me  to  her." 

"But  how  did  you  understand  them?" 

"  Oh,  that's  easy.  When  you  believe  in  the  fairies, 
they  will  always  hear  you  when  you  think." 

"  Hear  you  when  you  think,  Denny  ?  I  don't  under 
stand  you." 

"Why,  don't  you  see,  the  fairies  know  who  believe  in 
them — who  leave  the  yellow  toadstools  for  them  to  sit 
upon.  You  know  the  yellow  toadstools  ?  They  are  always 
put  in  grassy  places  by  the  fairies,  because  they  like  to  sit 
in  the  sun,  and  when  they  are  there  the  snakes  can't  get 
near  them  !  The  fairies  are  afraid  of  the  snakes.  That's 
the  reason  the  fairies  are  friendly  to  me.  I  saved  the 
king  of  the  fairies  when  he  was  asleep  once  from  a  snake. 
Oh,  away,  far  off  from  here.  Mother  told  me  about  it, 
because  you  know  the  fairies  mustn't  show  themselves  to 
little  boys  or  girls  alone,  only  to  grown  folks  that  have 
children  !  Then  the  folks  have  to  take  a  vow  over  runn 
ing  waters,  with  a  bit  of  witch-hazel  burning  in  their 
hands.  My  mother  used  to  take  the  vow  every  May-day, 
when  we  were  in  the  fields.  But  it  was  at  night,  you 
know.  Then  the  fire-flies  came  and  made  the  place  light, 
and  I  could  hear  the  fairies  singing  !  " 

"  Hear  the  fairies  singing,  Denny  ?  How  could  they 
sing?" 

"  Oh,  some  chirped  like  a  cricket,  some  like  a  whip- 


160  THE  ALIENS. 

poor-will ;  oh,  ever  so  many  sounds.     I  couldn't  tell  you 
half  of  them." 

"And  you  really  believe  it  true,  Denny?" 
Denny  stopped,  and  for  the  first  time  noticed  her 
wondering  look.  Then  he  grew  quite  crimsom  and  silent. 
This  was,  as  I  said,  the  first  summer  of  his  abode  in  Mar- 
bury,  and  he  never  after  that  betrayed  his  childish  faith. 
But  Dilly's  skepticism  pained  him  for  many  a  day.  His 
talks  with  her  after  that  were  brief  and  embarrassing.  He 
was  in  mortal  terror  of  losing  favor  in  her  eyes  ;  so  be 
yond  their  studies,  and  such  topics  as  came  up  in  school, 
he  never  ventured  to  be  communicative  with  her.  Besides 
this  he  saw  that  her  intimacy  with  him  subjected  her  to 
tantalizing  taunts  from  the  girls,  and  coarse  joking  from 
the  boys.  He  had  cuffed  some  of  the  more  outspoken 
mischief-makers  for  linking  Dilly's  name  with  his  own,  and 
though  it  was  depriving  himself  of  sunshine,  he  manfully 
resisted  the  impulse  to  show  her  his  worship,  by  the  devo 
tions  as  natural  to  him  as  song  to  the  bird,  or  fragrance 
to  the  flower.  But  he  had  a  little  ministry  of  his  own 
that  the  little  maid  received  with  timid  favor.  He  lent 
her  his  story-books,  and  wrote  out  her  history  and  gram 
mar  lessons.  He  prompted  her  when  he  could,  and  kept 
her  at  the  head  of  the  classes,  often  missing  questions  pur 
posely  that  she  might  stand  first. 

One  famous  nigbt,  when  the  Marbury  school  had  chal 
lenged  all  the  neighboring  districts  to  a  spelling-match, 
Denny,  who  had  come  off  conqueror  at  two  previous  trials, 
drew  down  the  teacher's  wrath  by  trying  to  give  Dilly  the 
victory.  All  had  been  spelled  down  but  Dilly,  Denny, 
and  the  leader  of  the  rival  school.  The  teacher  selected 
to  put  the  words  was  from  another  district,  and  when  the 
group  was  reduced  to  three  he  gave  the  word  entendre. 
Denny  on  the  instant  spelled  it  as  pronounced — enlender. 


VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT.  !6i 

"  Next !  " 

Now,  Dilly  was  next,  and  couldn't  conceive  how  the 
word  should  be  spelled,  if  not  as  Denny  had  done.  Sud 
denly  Denny  remembered  that,  in  reading  a  history  of  Napo 
leon,  he  had  seen  the  phrase  double  entendre,  and  he  bent 
over,  making  a  pretext  to  look  for  a  seat,  and  whispered  the 
correct  spelling  in  Dilly's  ear.  She  caught  it  and  spelled 
it  as  he  had  told  her.  The  teacher,  in  evident  chagrin, 
continued  ;  but  in  the  end  Dilly's  rival  "  beat "  her.  The 
Marbury  teacher  at  once  challenged  the  fairness  of  the 
contest,  pointing  out  that  entendre  was  a  French  word. 
This  was  admitted,  but  the  rival  party  carried  the  day,  as 
the  Marbury  school  had  not  entered  a  protest  against  it. 
Now,  Denny  had  been  heard  in  his  whisper  by  one  of  the 
girls,  and  when  this  was  made  known  he  was  charged  with 
the  school's  defeat  in  his  desire  to  make  Dilly  Dean  tri 
umph.  Poor  Dilly  was  made  to  suffer  bitterly  for  this 
indiscreet  devotion  of  "Irishy."  The  matter  was  made 
the  gossip  of  the  neighborhood,  and  Dilly's  family  cau 
tioned  her  against  allowing  such  familiarity  on  the  part  of 
the  Irish  boy.  The  results  went  still  further.  Thereafter, 
when  the  Deacon's  family  came  to  spend  the  day  with  the 
Marburys,  Dilly  was  escorted  by  her  brother,  to  keep  Den 
ny  at  a  distance. 

At  first  the  poor  lad  didn't  comprehend  it,  but  he  soon 
discovered  that  the  Deacon,  who  had  formerly  treated  him 
with  jocose  condescension,  now  frowned  sternly  when  he 
met  him,  and  spoke  very  shortly  the  little  he  had  to  say. 
So,  to  spare  Dilly  from  the  jeering  of  her  companions, 
Denny  never  spoke  to  her  in  school.  Even  that  floral 
ministry  which  had  been  his  delight  he  gave  up  with  a 
heavy  heart.  He  hurried  homeward  from  school,  too,  as 
the  other  boys  and  girls  made  game  of  his  simple  gallant 
ries  in  helping  Dilly  over  the  rough  places,  or  gather- 


1 62  THE  ALIENS. 

ing  the  yellowest  golden-rod  and  the  purplest  aster.  His 
school-days  at  this  stage  had  grown  somber  indeed.  It 
had  been  such  a  joy  to  get  to  the  stone  portico  first  in  the 
morning  and,  slipping  through  the  transom,  adjust  a  fra 
grant  nosegay  on  Billy's  desk.  Now  all  this  was  given  up. 

Watchful  eyes  were  upon  him,  and  if  he  but  raised  his 
trembling  glance  to  the  tender  little  maid  there  were  buzz 
ing  comments  and  tattling  to  the  Deacon's  family.  Too 
proud  to  complain,  and  too  mindful  of  Dilly's  comfort  to 
resent  this,  he  never  made  known  to  her  by  word  of 
mouth  the  conduct  he  was  pursuing.  But  he  knew  that 
she  understood  it,  for  once,  when  the  boys  were  formed  in 
two  ranks  and  the  girls  had  to  "  pass  the  gauntlet,"  as  it 
was  called,  she  gave  him  an  adorable  smile  as  he  fell  out 
of  line  and  refused  to  claim  his  right  to  kiss  her,  as  the 
game  provided.  Poor  Denny  was  so  cowed  by  the  per 
sistent  malevolence  of  his  companions,  boy  and  girl,  that 
he  never  supposed  for  a  moment  that  Dilly  had  any  other 
feeling  for  him  than  pity.  How  could  it  be  different  ? 

How  could  she  care  for  one  whom  all  her  associates 
reviled  ?  How  could  a  native  care  for  an  alien — an  Irish 
alien  at  that  ?  Wasn't  the  burden  of  it  in  his  ears  every 
play-hour?  If  he  were  admitted  to  the  boyish  sports, 
wasn't  there  always  a  sort  of  contemptuous  toleration  ? 
When  the  play-houses  were  made  among  the  recesses  of 
the  *'  huckleberry  "  swamp  behind  the  school,  where  the 
blackbirds  kept  up  such  a  saucy  protesting  chatter,  wasn't 
he  always  excluded,  after  he  had  torn  his  flesh  and  frayed 
his  garments  in  climbing  the  birch-trees  for  the  fragrant 
limbs  to  adorn  these  sylvan  bowers  ?  None  of  the  girls 
would  admit  him  as  a  member  of  the  little  households, 
and  he  was  left  alone  in  the  triumph  of  his  elfin  edifice. 

Childish  woes,  you  say  !  I  doubt  if  the  Napoleons  felt 
half  as  bitterly  the  refusal  of  the  royal  families  to  bestow 


VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT.  163 

their  daughters  on  the  parvenu  empire,  as  Denny  when  the 
Marbury  boys  and  girls  declined  to  take  part  with  him  in 
those  youthful  travesties  of  housekeeping.  But  persistent 
as  this  deconsideration  was  it  didn't  sour  his  temper.  He 
was  the  merriest  of  the  group.  His  wit  was  quick,  his 
temper  hot,  his  diligence  untiring,  his  purpose  unconquer 
able.  He  meant  to  lead  all  his  classes,  and  he  did  it.  He 
meant  to  lead  in  all  games  of  skill,  and  he  did.  He  was 
the  swiftest  runner  in  all  the  township.  He  could  climb 
trees  that  made  the  other  boys  dizzy.  In  the  water  he 
was  fearless  as  a  duck — if  there  were  no  snakes  about. 
Nature  he  read  in  all  her  varying  pages  by  a  sort  of  in 
tuition.  He  knew  where  all  manner  of  birds  were  to  be 
found.  He  could  point  out  the  storehouses  of  half  the 
squirrels  that  scampered  over  the  Marbury  fences.  He 
could  supply  wild  honey  at  an  hour's  notice  for  the  school 
picnics.  He  wasn't  fond  of  gunning  or  fishing,  and  was 
well  hated  by  the  others  for  that.  Poor  lad  !  he  needed  all 
these  compensations  to  counterpoise  the  burdens  of  his 
daily  life.  He  was  a  tall  boy  now  in  his  last  teens,  but 
his  mind  was  as  simple  as  when  he  trudged  over  the  hills 
with  Kate. 

Darcy  Warchester  was  but  a  year  or  two  older  than 
Denny,  but  his  mingling  with  the  world,  his  repose  and 
self-confidence,  made  him  appear  three  or  four  years 
older.  It  was  the  last  term  Denny  was  to  attend  the  Mar- 
bury  school.  There  was  nothing  more  for  him  to  learn. 
Indeed,  he  had  long  ago  exhausted  the  simple  course  of 
the  curriculum,  and  this  last  winter,  in  return  for  desul 
tory  glimpses  of  French,  he  had  relieved  the  teacher  of  all 
the  elementary  classes.  Oswald,  in  return  for  hints  in 
woodcraft,  had  lent  him  German  text-books,  and  helped 
him  in  the  acquirement  of  his  soft  Saxon  pronunciation. 
The  term,  which  ended  in  April,  wound  up  with  an  even- 


1 64  THE  ALIENS. 

ing  party  at  the  school-house.  The  event  was  very  gay. 
All  the  families  of  the  township  came  in  cutters,  for  in 
those  days  winter  lingered  in  severity  far  into  May. 

There  were  to  be  games,  and  a  modest  feast  was  to  be 
set  on  the  desks,  which  had  been  made  into  long  tables 
running  through  the  middle  of  the  school-house.  The 
windows  were  festooned  with  spruce-branches  and  holly- 
berries,  and  the  rostrum  was  turned  into  a  fairy  bower. 
Some  of  the  young  men  brought  fiddles  and  a  flute,  and 
there  was  an  attempt  at  dancing,  which  was  but  feebly 
supported,  and  collapsed  with  a  very  dispirited  Virginia  reel. 
The  diversions  of  the  evening  tended  to  games  in  which 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  kissing.  Norah  and  Denny  sat  in 
the  background,  taking  no  part.  They  did  not  feel  at  all 
neglected,  for  they  had  come  to  regard  themselves  very 
much  as  the  colored  aliens  of  the  South.  They  were  set 
apart  by  the  crime  of  their  birth,  and  were  quite  content 
to  be  permitted  to  see  the  gayeties  of  their  betters,  without 
being  part  of  them.  Once  during  the  evening  Dilly  Dane, 
who  had  been  behind  the  green  bushes  on  the  rostrum, 
found  herself  without  a  partner,  or  "  beau,"  as  it  was  the 
simple  fashion  to  call  the  masculine  playmates  in  those 
days.  All  the'  rest  of  the  girls  were  seated  in  rows, 
with  the  indispensable  "  beau,"  and,  as  Dilly's  name  was 
called,  she  came  down  to  select  her  partner.  But  all  were 
taken.  She  looked  about,  and,  seeing  Denny,  hesitated 
and  blushed. 

"  Oh,  take  Paddy,  Dil ;  he'll  do  for  the  game,  and  I'll 
do  the  kissing,"  said  young  Orlando  Gates,  a  neighbor's 
son. 

A  general  titter  followed  this,  and  everybody  looked 
curiously  at  the  blushing  girl.  She  raised  her  head  with 
a  flash  of  defiance  in  her  kindly,  serious  eye,  and,  walking 
down  the  aisle  made  by  the  boys  and  girls,  stopped  before 


VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT.  165 

Denny  and  held  out  her  hand.  Denny  was  quaking  like 
a  leaf  in  a  March  wind.  His  head  fairly  reeled,  and  he 
sat  quite  immovable. 

"  Come,  come,  Paddy.  It's  bad  manners  to  keep  a 
lady  waiting,"  called  out  one  of  the  boys  maliciously  ;  and 
then  everybody  tittered,  the  elders  grinning  discreetly. 

"  Go,  Denny,"  whispered  Norah. 

He  got  up  trembling  and  walked  very  much  abashed 
to  the  vacant  place  reserved  for  the  two,  and  never  opened 
his  lips  to  his  partner.  When  the  kissing  came  he  turned 
his  head  away,  and  when  the  game  was  ended  led  Dilly 
back  to  her  seat,  under  a  merciless  fusilade  of  jeers  and 
cat-calls.  The  elders  did  not  remain  for  the  last  of  the 
frolics,  and  most  of  the  young  people  were  left  in  charge 
of  neighbors  who  lived  near  the  school.  It  was  midnight 
when  the  lights  were  put  out  and  the  revelers  packed 
themselves  into  the  sleighs.  Norah  drove  off  with  a  neigh 
bor  from  the  farm-house  next  below  the  Doctor's,  and 
Denny  trudged  off  on  foot.  The  night  had  suddenly 
grown  warm.  The  roads  were  slushy  and  difficult,  and  he 
struck  off  across  the  fields.  When  he  came  to  Bethesda 
Creek  the  waters  had  risen  so  high  that  he  could  not  cross, 
and  he  made  his  way  back  to  the  high-road.  As  he 
neared  it  he  heard  shouting  and  laughing,  and  could  dis 
tinguish  the  sleighs  skimming  fleetly  down  the  hill  toward 
the  bridge.  A  half-dozen  or  more  had  passed,  and  he 
could  see  them  like  black  dots  to  the  eastward,  when  a 
great  shout  startled  him.  One  of  the  sleighs  had  just 
crossed  the  light  timber  bridge  and  reached  the  ascent  on 
the  other  side.  There  was  a  hoarse  indistinguishable 
screech,  and  then  a  succession  of  screams,  and  a  dull  crash 
as  of  breaking  timbers.  He  ran  swiftly  toward  the  bridge. 
On  reaching  it  the  screams  and  shouts  were  renewed. 
One  of  the  sleighs  in  passing  had  struck  the  frail  railing 


1 66  THE  ALIENS. 

of  the  bridge,  which  had  given  way.  The  driver  had 
whipped  the  horses  up,  but  the  right-hand  runner  had 
gone  over  the  planks,  and  several  of  the  people  had  been 
precipitated  into  the  swollen  stream  below.  How  many, 
Denny  couldn't  guess,  for  the  current  ran  so  rapidly  that 
the  struggling  figures  could  not  be  distinguished  from  the 
floating  debris.  Running  along  the  edge,  he  could  hear 
plaintive  gurglings  in  the  water  a  few  feet  from  him.  Fix 
ing  the  object  well  in  his  eye,  he  plunged  in,  and,  in  spite 
of  the  ferocity  of  the  current,  was  soon  within  reach  of 
the  victim.  It  was  a  girl,  he  could  discern  in  an  instant. 
He  struggled  with  the  body,  but  was  likely  to  be  borne 
down,  as  she  clung  in  terror  about  his  arms.  Fortunately, 
a  log  passing  offered  a  means  of  rescue  ;  he  seized  it  with 
one  hand  and  kept  with  the  current,  gently  trending  to 
ward  the  bank  as  the  stream  curved.  In  a  few  moments 
he  was  safely  on  shore,  and  those  from  the  bridge,  who 
had  followed  down  the  field,  were  at  hand  to  help  him  out. 

"  Who  is  it  ?  Which  have  you  got  ?  "  a  voice,  that  he 
recognized  as  Tom  Dane's,  asked  excitedly.  Then,  ex 
amining  the  drenched  figure,  he  exclaimed  : 

"  O  my  God !  Boyne,  Dilly  is  in  the  water  yet ;  she 
and  Nell  fell  in." 

Chilled  to  the  bone,  and  nearly  exhausted,  Denny  only 
waited  to  say : 

"  I  will  go  down  in  the  middle  of  the  stream  to  the 
sand-shoal,  and  do  you  follow  on  the  bank.  Watch  out, 
and  tell  me  when  you  see  anything."  He  ran  down  along 
the  edge  of  the  water  and  called.  He  could  hear  no  sound, 
and  then,  dashing  along  the  bank  for  fifty  yards,  watching 
the  water,  he  struck  out  again.  But  there  was  no  sign  of 
the  drowning  girl.  He  gave  up  hope,  and,  crossing  to  the 
other  side,  when  he  remembered  passing  a  sort  of  mael 
strom  a  few  feet  back  ;  he  returned,  and  leaped  in  again. 


VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT.  j6; 

The  place  was  full  of  whirling  brush  and  the  ctibris  of  the 
mill-pond.  He  felt  sure  that  the  body  could  not  have 
passed  down  beyond  him,  and,  with  sickening  dread,  began 
to  push  about  among  the  flying  limbs.  The  waters  covered 
the  field,  and  near  him  one  corner  of  the  rail-fence  was 
almost  submerged.  Excitement  made  him  unconscious  of 
the  chill  of  the  water,  and,  besides,  he  was  used  to  expos 
ure  of  the  sort,  often  passing  hours  in  the  winter  snow  in 
the  woods  helping  to  draw  out  wood.  But  he  was  losing 
strength  now,  and,  in  attempting  to  move  a  heap  of  inter 
locked  rails  and  limbs,  he  lost  his  foot-hold  and  was  whirled 
into  the  fence  corner  before  he  could  recover  himself.  As 
he  grasped  the  rail  to  regain  his  feet  his  hand  encountered 
cold,  clammy  fingers,  apparently  frozen  to  the  rail.  Bend 
ing  down,  he  discerned  a  ghastly  face  staring  upward  at 
him,  the  head  caught  between  two  jutting  rails.  With  a 
shriek  of  despair,  he  recognized  Dilly.  He  was  too  ex 
hausted  to  extricate  her,  but  in  a  few  minutes  the  rest  of 
the  party  from  the  bridge  were  at  his  side,  and  the  inani 
mate  figure  wrapped  in  warm  robes.  It  was  too  far  to  take 
her  home  for  restoration,  and,  resting  in  Denny's  arms,  she 
was  hurried  into  the  sleigh  and  driven  to  Ritter's  tavern. 
Mrs.  Ritter  had  lived  on  the  Elbe,  and  encountered 
emergencies  of  the  sort.  She  knew  exactly  what  to  do. 
The  young  men  were  sent  to  another  room,  and  the  cold 
body  stripped,  laid  on  the  table,  and  vigorously  rubbed. 
In  half  an  hour  the  good  wife  pronounced  her  safe,  just 
as  Dr.  Marbury,  who  had  been  sent  for,  appeared,  startled 
and  indignant,  on  the  scene.  When  he  had  ministered  to 
the  convalescent,  he  came  out  into  the  general  room,  where 
the  crowd  still  lingered.  Denny  was  sitting  far  back  in 
the  corner  unnoticed,  waiting,  with  heavy  heart,  for  tidings. 
Nobody  spoke  to  him.  Dilly's  brother  had  gone  home 
with  his  cousin  Nelly,  to  warn  the  family  of  the  cause  of 
8 


!68  THE  ALIENS. 

the  delay.  The  Doctor  turned  in  wrath  to  the  company, 
as  he  put  his  hand  on  Denny's  wet  shoulder. 

"  This  poor  boy  risked  his  life  for  your  two  compan 
ions,  and  not  one  of  you  have  heart  enough  to  bring  him 
near  the  stove,  or  give  him  a  dry  rag  to  warm  his  shivering 
body  ! " 

"Why,  I  declare,  Doctor,"  said  one  of  the  eldest  of 
the  group,  "  I  never  once  thought  of  Denis.  I — I — we 
thought  he  had  gone  home." 

"  And  you  would  let  him  walk  home,  a  mile,  in  this 
plight,  while  your  horses,  three  of  them,  stand  idle  in  the 
sheds?  You're  a  Christian  lot,  indeed  !  " 

But  Denny  was  quite  unmindful  of  himself.  It  was 
some  one  else  he  was  thinking  of,  and,  as  the  Doctor  bent 
down  to  feel  his  pulse,  he  whispered  in  his  ear : 

"  Is  Dilly  quite  well  and  safe  ? " 

"  Yes,  she's  perfectly  restored  ;  no  fear  of  her."  Then, 
turning  to  the  host,  he  added  : 

"  Ritter,  you  must  give  this  boy  a  bed  here  to-night. 
He  mustn't  venture  out  in  his  condition." 

So  Denny  slept  at  Ritter's,  and  in  the  morning  his 
clothes  were  dry,  and  he  was  up  and  about,  none  the  worse 
for  his  exposure  the  night  before.  The  house  was  full  of 
Dilly's  family.  Her  mother  came  into  the  breakfast-room, 
where  Denny  was  eating,  and,  hearing  Oswald  call  him 
by  name,  she  laid  down  the  dish  she  had  in  her  hand,  and, 
coming  over  behind  him,  pressed  his  head  back  and  kissed 
him.  The  Deacon  came  in  from  the  porch,  and,  as  he 
caught  sight  of  Denny,  he  coughed  in  embarrassment; 
then,  coming  over,  he  took  his  hand,  saying,  austerely  : 

"  You  have  acted  like  a  brave  fellow,  and  we  owe  you 
a  great  deal.  If  we  can  ever  do  anything  for  you,  don't 
forget  we  are  your  friends." 

It  was  quite  like  his  favorite  fairy  dialogues,  where  the 


VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT.  169 

elves  bade  him  command  their  magic  methods  in  all  his 
desires.  How  often  he  had  repeated  them !  How  often 
they  had  given  him  the  realms  of  fancy  to  exploit,  and 
the  scepter  and  sword  of  these  ample  dominions !  Alas  ! 
there  was  one  fairy,  whose  gray  eyes  and  golden  pate  he 
would  rather  have  seen  than  to  hear  all  this  high  and 
mighty  tribute  to  his  prowess.  But  he  was  not  to  see  her. 
The  Doctor  came  between.  The  invalid  was  not  to  be 
seen  by  anybody.  Indeed,  it  would  never  have  entered 
Denny's  mind  to  ask  such  a  bold  thing  as  to  see  her.  He 
went  off  home  quite  radiant,  however,  for  now  he  might 
at  least  sometimes  go  to  Deacon  Dane's  without  the  fear 
of  bringing  reproof  upon  Dilly  for  her  partiality  to  the 
"  Paddy."  Indeed,  the  Saturday  a  fortnight  after,  when 
Dilly  was  quite  brisk  again,  Mrs.  Dane  sent  the  wagon 
over,  asking  Denny  and  his  sister  to  pass  the  day.  None 
of  his  fairy  friends,  decked  in  the  exuberant  hues  of  his 
imagination,  was  ever  such  a  picture  as  the  sunny  maid, 
standing  on  the  trellised  veranda  to  meet  her  young  knight. 
Denny's  timidity  made  the  meeting  very  embarrassing,  and 
it  was  the  shy  Norah  who  had  to  extricate  them  from  it. 
She  smiled  softly  to  herself  as  the  blushing  girl  led  her 
visitors  to  the  sitting-room,  where  her  mother  gave  them 
a  very  cordial  greeting. 

"  Dilly  is  to  entertain  you  young  folks,  and  we  shall 
not  disturb  you.  The  men  are  tapping  the  maples,  and 
perhaps  you  might  like  to  go  down  and  drink  some  fresh 
sap." 

The  young  folks  "  allowed  "  that  nothing  could  be 
more  tempting,  and  went  off  awkwardly  enough.  The 
sun  was  warm,  though  the  ground  was  not  wholly  clear  of 
snow,  and  the  little  party  had  a  merry  time  avoiding  the 
wet  places  in  the  winding  lane.  Tom,  who  joined  them 
at  the  barn,  was  full  of  praise  of  Denny's  daring,  and 


I/O 


THE  ALIENS. 


brought  mantling  waves  of  color  to  that  small  hero's 
cheeks  as  he  dilated  on  Denny's  resolute  pertinacity  in 
remaining  in  the  creek,  while  he  was  freezing  with  cold. 
Dilly  never  alluded  to  the  event,  but  she  looked  all  that 
Denny  felt  the  occasion  called  for.  Just  before  the  time 
set  for  the  brother  and  sister's  return,  Dilly  came  out  on 
the  veranda,  where  Tom  had  carried  the  lad  to  show  him 
some  contrivance  for  catching  squirrels,  and  had  left  him 
alone  an  instant  ;  slipping  a  little  packet  into  Denny's 
hand,  she  whispered,  "  Keep  this  for  my  sake  "  ;  then 
turned  and  ran  back  to  the  others.  Denny  thrust  the  par 
cel  into  his  pocket,  with  a  proud  and  delicious  sense  of 
confidential  trust,  and  followed  Tom's  divagations  with 
a  most  distracted  mind.  So  soon  as  he  and  Norah  had 
gone  to  their  rooms  at  bed-time,  he  asked  her  to  light  the 
candle,  and,  taking  out  the  little  packet,  opened  the  paper. 
It  was  an  ebony  locket  with  a  tiny  daguerreotype  of  Dilly, 
framed  by  a  blue  velvet  border,  and  on  white  silk  ribbon 
was  the  legend  embroidered  in  crimson  silk : 

"  To  the  best  and  bravest  boy  in  the  world." 

Denny  kissed  it  rapturously,  and  his  eyes  glistened. 
Norah  was  looking  at  him  in  wonder  and  terror.  He 
caught  sight  of  her  startled  face,  and  asked  : 

"  What  is  it,  Nody  ?     Is  there  anything  ye  fear  ? " 

"  O  Denny,  I'm  afeard  ye're  making  a  load  to  lay 
on  yer  own  tender  heart.  Don't  ye  know,  dear,  it's  not 
for  the  likes  of  you  to  love  a  proud  man's  daughter  ;  don't 
ye  know,  Denny,  he'd  set  the  dogs  on  ye  if  he  thought  ye 
mad  enough  to  think  of  his  daughter  ?  " 

Denny  sank  down  on  the  side  of  the  bed,  staring 
aghast  at  his  sister.  She  came  over,  and,  sitting  beside 
him,  caressed  his  hands  and  drew  his  head  over  on  her 
bosom — as  the  mother  was  fond  of  doing — and  then  she 
poured  out  the  little  worldly  wisdom  that  she  had  been 


VISIONS  OF  DELIGHT.  1 71 

taught  by  the  hard  experience  of  her  alien  life.  When 
the  boy  arose  to  go  to  his  own  bed,  he  saw  it  all.  He  saw 
it  a  good  deal  more  forcibly  than  poor  Norah  had  been 
able  to  argue  it.  He  lay  awake  hours  revolving  it  in  his 
mind.  It  was  presumptuous  to  think  of  the  high-born 
daughter  of  the  Marbury  magnate.  It  was  only  her  gen 
tle,  sweet  way  that  made  her  seem  to  care  for  him.  Of 
course  she  didn't  know  the  mad  dreams  he  had  been 
dreaming — his  ambitions,  his  hopes,  his  confidence  in  the 
time  when  he  should  be  a  college  graduate,  a  great  law 
yer,  a  law-maker — perhaps  ruler  of  the  State  !  Why  not  ? 
Hadn't  Dr.  Marbury  told  him  that  aliens  had  reached 
all  these  distinctions  ?  Why  shouldn't  he  ?  And  then — 
then  why  shouldn't  Dilly  Dane  be  his  sweetheart  ?  He 
flamed  with  the  blood  of  guiltless  shame  as  this  bold 
thought  came ;  but  until  all  this  should  come  to  pass,  how 
would  he  dare  to  let  her  know  his  mad  vagaries  ?  Would 
she  for  a  moment  listen  to  such  wildness  ?  Would  she 
consent  that  her  name  should  be  joined  to  that  of  the 
contemned,  the  alien,  the  butt  of  the  town  ridicule,  the 
Gibeonite  of  the  social  hierarchy  ?  To  let  her  know  his 
love  even  would  be  an  humiliation  to  her  ;  to  ask  her  to 
share  it  would  be  binding  her  to  the  moral  torture  of  a 
social  pillory.  To  seem  to  crave  her  love  after  the  rescue 
would  be  as  if  he  were  making  that  act  a  claim  upon  her. 
No ;  Norah  was  right.  He  must  shut  himself  out  from 
the  sunlight  of  this  fair  girl's  smile  ;  he  must  hear  no 
more  the  gentle  voice  of  her  grateful  joy.  He  must  not 
be  the  one — he  who  loved  her  as  life  is  loved  only  when  it 
is  in  most  peril — to  make  her  heart  heavy  and  her  path 
hard. 

For  even  to  let  her  little  world  see  that  he  adored 
her  would  be  in  some  sort  to  reflect  upon  her,  and  he 
would  bury  the  burning  impulses  of  his  shadowy  dream 


172  THE  ALIENS. 

before  the  shapes  that  seemed  angels  in  his  fancies  should 
turn  to  specters  to  her  peace  of  mind.  The  artless  lad 
groaned  and  resolved,  as  many  have  done  before,  and  as 
many  will  do  to  the  end  of  time.  But  while  the  abnega 
tion  of  the  wisely  conscientious  is  based  upon  the  consid 
eration  of  evil  to  follow,  or  temptation  to  be  resisted,  this 
poor  lad,  accepting  a  monstrous  wrong  as  an  implacable 
condition,  came  to  his  heart-breaking  denial  of  self  by 
processes  whose  interdependence  few  would  have  stopped 
to  verify.  Darcy  had  gone  over  this  mental  way  of  thorns. 
He,  too,  saw  the  face  that  made  flame  in  his  heart ;  he  saw 
eyes  in  which  he  could  divine  unfathomable  things  ;  and 
heard  a  voice  that  made  such  music  as  the  inner  chords 
alone  transmit  to  the  soul;  he,  too,  halters,  desire,  but 
with  a  frail  gyve.  But  his  impulse  involved  no  abnega 
tion  in  the  sense  Denny's  did.  His  love  might  be  open 
as  the  day  and  crowned  by  a  life  of  tranquil  joy.  But 
it  involved  the  cutting  out  of  pride,  root  and  branch. 
Denny's  involved  nothing  that  need  for  a  moment  inter 
rupt  the  serene  current  of  his  own  or  his  sweetheart's  life. 
But,  deceived  by  the  false  conditions  into  which  his  troub 
led  life  had  been  passed,  he  thought  the  tribute  of  his  love 
as  compromising  as  the  alliance  of  the  Giaour  to  the  Mos 
lem.  Darcy  fled  an  animal  impulse  ;  Denny  confronted 
a  spiritual  crucifixion — all  the  more  excruciating  that  it 
was  intangible,  vast,  hydra-headed,  menacing.  Darcy, 
knowing  his  own  world,  fed  his  heart  on  desire  until  the 
soul  of  Norah  caught  the  fragrant  incense,  and  then  he 
halted  to  weigh  the  consequences  of  further  dallying. 
Denny,  the  victim  of  sordid  prejudice  and  ignoble  tradi 
tions,  looked  out  into  the  radiant  atmosphere  of  his  be 
loved  and  refused  to  throw  even  a  shadow  on  her  path 
from  his  own  dark  destiny.  Darcy,  pinnacled  in  the 
world's  high  places,  looked  into  the  valley  and  debated 


A    TEXT  FROM  LEVITICUS.  173 

whether  he  should  withhold  his  hand  or  give  the  innocent 
— standing  on  the  brink  of  the  precipice — the  impulse  that 
must  cast  her  into  the  abysm  below  ! 


CHAPTER  XL 

A    TEXT    FROM    LEVITICUS. 

THOUGH  Imperia  was  in  Denny's  youth,  as  it  is  now, 
the  most  populous  State  of  the  Union,  rural  life  was  as 
simple  in  plan  as  the  pastoral  pursuits  of  Jacob  or  Laban. 
Tilling  the  fields,  and  providing  the  needs  of  the  seasons, 
brought  the  husbandman  his  distractions  and  delights,  as 
well  as  his  toils.  Those  educating  and  liberalizing  diver 
sions  into  flower-culture,  vine-raising,  vernal  experiment 
ing,  which  now  lend  such  a  gracious  flavor  to  the  hard  lot 
of  rural  labor,  were  quite  unknown.  Great  land-owners 
adorned  the  fields  near  their  homesteads  with  English 
hedges  of  hawthorn,  boxwood,  prickly  ash,  and  in  rare 
cases  rose-bushes  ;  but  for  the  most  part  the  "  posy  "  beds 
and  decorative  shrubberies  were  left  to  the  "women  folks," 
as  something  outside  the  serious  consideration  of  the  men. 
About  every  farm-house  door  the  air  was  sweet  in  sum 
mer  with  caraway-blossoms,  bergamot-beds,  four-o'clocks, 
sedulously  framed  in  a  network  of  sticks  to  keep  the 
rapacious  poultry  from  devouring  the  seeds.  The  green 
sward  about  the  house  was  cut  into  long  pebble-  or  shell- 
framed  beds,  wherein  the  housewife's  hand  reared,  with 
tenderness  and  solicitude,  "  ragged  robin,"  "  sweet  Will 
iam,"  "pinks,"  "pansies,"  "marigolds,"  and  "daffodils," 
that  filled  the  summer  air  with  color  and  fragrance. 


1/4  THE  ALIENS. 

Against  the  parlor  windows  morning-glory  frames 
trained  their  rainbow-hued  blossoms  into  the  deep  embra 
sures,  and  made  the  glories  of  Nature  part  of  the  furnishing 
of  the  modest  rooms.  The  walk  from  the  front  gate  was 
aflame  in  the  season  with  the  heavy  heads  of  the  crimson 
peony.  At  Marbury,  Aunt  Selina  and  Norah  gave  every 
available  moment  to  this  vernal  decoration,  and  the  porch 
and  the  green  parterres  before  the  veranda  were  a  de 
lightful  sight  to  see,  as  the  visitor  penetrated  the  blossom 
ing  labyrinth  until  the  door  itself  was  reached  under  pur 
ple  lilacs  screening  the  front  windows  and  shedding  their 
soft  perfume  on  the  balmy  air.  The  orchards,  generally 
set  out  between  the  mansion  and  the  roadway,  gave  an  air 
of  repose  and  even  seclusion  to  the  hard  outlines  of  the 
red  brick  or  rigid  stone  squares  scattered  over  the  billowy 
landscape.  A  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  was  a  sign  of 
affluence  ;  fifty  acres  were  counted  a  prosperous  domain. 
The  Caribee  Valley,  stretching  from  the  great  lake  Otranto 
to  the  Mingrelia  Mountains,  was  famous  in  the  mills  of 
Kent  and  the  looms  of  Manchester  for  its  wheat  and 
fleeces.  With  the  opening  of  the  great  Canal,  the  butter 
from  its  fragrant  meadows  ruled  the  markets  of  New 
York,  and  was  a  luxurious  delight  as  far  as  Boston  and 
Baltimore.  An  enchanting  simplicity  of  manners  and  de 
sires  welded  the  neighborhood  groups  in  fraternal  amity. 

The  socialism  of  the  patriarchs  ruled  the  communities, 
though  the  honest  households  would  have  been  puzzled 
to  define  the  relationship.  Money,  instead  of  being  se 
creted  in  the  stocking,  or  hoarded  in  mysterious  recesses, 
was  so  soon  as  gained  put  into  new  buildings  or  enlarged 
individual  acreage.  Banks  were  almost  unused.  Interest 
was  unknown.  The  only  rivalry  in  rank  was  the  posses 
sion  of  the  best  farm — the  cultivation  of  the  acres.  The 
farmer  who  had  planted  the  largest  number  of  meadows 


A    TEXT  FROM  LEVITICUS.  175 

in  wheat,  and  rescued  the  crop  intact,  was  the  hierarchical 
person  of  the  countryside.  The  squire,  whose  function 
comprised  justice  of  the  peace  and  legal  adviser  of  the 
township,  was  often  the  least  considered  of  the  neighbor 
hood  magnates.  Change  of  ownership  was  very  rare. 
When  the  boys  grew  up  and  married,  instead  of  sharing 
the  family  heritage,  they  were  generally  given  an  outfit,  a 
small  sum  of  money,  and  set  out  to  make  their  fortunes  in 
that  unknown  West  which  is  now  the  center  of  popula 
tion.  A  hundred  years  ago  the  face  of  the  country  was 
known  only  to  the  restless  pioneer,  the  hunting-ground  of 
the  last  of  the  Oneidas,  Chippewas,  and  Onondagas. 

On  the  banks  of  its  crystal  streams  still  towered  forest 
trunks  that  had  sheltered  the  fierce  nomads,  girdled  with 
the  scalps  of  the  early  settlers.  The  richest  farmer  rarely 
had  enough  ready  money  to  afford  the  mechanical  inven 
tions  without  which  his  descendant  of  to-day  would  re 
gard  himself  helpless  in  the  tillage  of  his  wheat-fields.  In 
the  roomy  parlor  such  a  thing  as  a  piano  was  unknown. 
Beyond  the  Bible,  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  "Saint's 
Rest,"  and  the  "Book  of  Martyrs,"  the  most  pretentious 
household  never  dreamed.  A  family  fortunate  enough  to 
have  relations  in  the  "city,"  as  Warchester  was  known 
for  an  area  of  one  hundred  miles,  might  be  favored  with  a 
well-thumbed  copy  of  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  and  the  "  Ara 
bian  Nights."  But  these  were  regarded  with  a  good  deal 
of  timid  questioning  by  the  sedate  elders.  One  copy  of 
Scott's  works,  possessed  by  Dr.  Marbury,  had  for  years 
excited  strong  aversion  to  that  gentle  sage  as  far  as  his 
name  was  known.  A  Quaker  descendant  of  a  member  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  who  had  come  from  the  Valley 
of  the  Susquehanna,  was  discovered  to  have  a  copy  of 
Tom  Paine's  "Age  of  Reason"  among  his  simple  house 
hold  treasures,  and  for  years  he  was  regarded  as  a  pagan. 


176  THE  ALIENS. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was,  to  the  common  mind,  what  Vol 
taire  remains  to  this  day  to  some  minds  which  are  not 
common.  The  most  resolute  democrat  spoke  in  solemn 
deprecation  when  "Tom  Jefferson's"  creed  was  men 
tioned.  He  was  the  type  of  all  that  was  godless  and  un 
believing. 

Denny  enjoyed  the  most  advanced  forms  of  the  school 
ing  of  that  day — simple  enough,  as  we  have  seen.  But 
Marbury  was  much  in  advance  of  the  neighboring  town 
ships,  where  the  school-houses  were  built  of  rough  logs, 
and  the  seats  made  from  the  outside  planks,  the  bark  ad 
hering  for  many  a  day,  until  successive  dynasties  of  boys 
had  pulled  it  off  to  kindle  the  morning  fire  in  the  great 
chest  of  iron  that  served  as  a  stove.  The  seats  were  not 
calculated  to  effeminize  the  scholars,  as  the  legs  from  be 
low  came  up  through  the  auger-holes,  catching  the  stu 
dents'  garments,  and  sometimes,  when  the  seats  were 
crowded,  crucifying  the  flesh.  As  the  chill  air  became  warm 
from  the  roaring  iron  stove,  or  perhaps  from  a  great  open 
fireplace  taking  up  one  side  of  the  log  academy,  the  smell 
of  food  stimulated  the  zealous  pupils,  as  the  bowls  of 
apple-sauce  and  jelly  made  their  odor  felt  in  the  unventi- 
lated  room. 

With  this,  the  coriander  and  caraway  seed,  that  Denny 
detested,  permeated  the  close  quarters,  as  the  younger 
children  surreptitiously  anticipated  the  tardy  noon  hour. 
In  the  summer  all  the  young  people,  boys  and  girls,  went 
barefooted  ;  but  as  the  autumn  frosts  came,  the  children's 
joy  was  to  watch  the  itinerant  shoemaker,  who  went  from 
house  to  house  "  shoeing "  his  clients,  setting  up  his 
bench  and  passing  a  week,  a  fortnight,  or  perhaps  longer, 
where  many  feet  made  the  need.  Many  a  time  the  shin 
ing  new  shoes,  grown  to  such  wondrous  shape  and  beauty 
under  their  eyes,  the  children  of  those  days  put  under 


A    TEXT  FROM  LEVITICUS. 


177 


their  pillows  before  wearing,  to  bring  good  luck  to  their 
footsteps  !  All  the  clothing  was  made  in  the  house, 
carded,  woven,  cut,  and  fashioned,  and  life  was  as  com 
plete,  on  a  well-ordered  farm,  as  it  is  now  in  a  metropolis — 
so  far  as  actual  needs  went. 

I  don't  know  that  these  limitations  made  our  fore 
fathers  less  perfect  men.  Indeed,  when  we  open  that 
enchanting  romance — how  the  reader  of  fifty  years  ago 
would  have  stared  to  hear  it  so  called — when,  I  say,  we 
lose  ourselves  in  the  exuberance  of  Bunyan's  exquisite 
images,  and  reflect  on  the  constancy  with  which  our  an 
cestors  read  its  tender  fancies,  it  is  impossible  to  think  of 
them  as  uneducated.  For  the  poet's  fancies  must  have 
lingered  in  all  their  days  of  toil  and  nights  of  tranquil  re 
pose.  It  is  the  fancy  that  educates  us,  after  all,  and  how 
could  men  be  stolid  in  wit,  or  deficient  in  speech,  who 
had  the  sayings  of  Christian,  and  the  sophisms  of  Worldly- 
Wiseman  to  tinge  the  color  of  their  daily  thought  and 
point  the  force  of  their  simple  maxims  ?  It  is  only  within 
a  few  years  that  the  cast  of  thought  and  form  of  speech 
of  the  Puritan  fathers  has  wholly  disappeared  from  the 
first  settled  communities  of  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States.  In  the  days  I  am  writing  about,  the  Bible  was  the 
best  known  book  to  old  and  young,  for  though  there  was 
not  much  of  the  expository  in  the  teachings  of  the  un 
learned  Levites  that  sat  in  the  rural  temples  of  a  Sunday, 
they  encouraged  the  retention  of  the  text  in  the  minds  of 
the  Sunday  devotees. 

It  was  no  unusual  thing  to  find  boys  and  girls  who 
could  recite  the  chapters  of  the  Galilean  life  with  as  much 
precision  as  a  college  man  of  to-day  the  stirring  passages 
of  the  "  Iliad  "  or  the  "  Odyssey."  This  familiarity  with 
The  Word,  devoid  of  doctrinal  tone  or  dogmatic  tend 
ency,  formed  an  ethic  system  rather  sentimental  than  re- 


i;8  THE  ALIENS. 

ligious,  rather  humanitarian  than  devotional.  Influences 
like  these  were  bound  to  make  individualities  of  even  the 
prosaic  personages  of  such  communities.  The  ignoble 
rivalry  of  sectarian  prejudices  never  disturbed  the  serene 
current  of  their  eventless  existences.  They  were  born 
among  Nature's  smiling  walks,  and  they  lived  with  charac 
teristics  insensibly  molded  by  the  secret  processes  that 
environed  them. 

It  is  an  intelligent,  sympathetic  perception  of  these 
conditions  that  makes  Denny's  boyhood  and  manhood 
comprehensible — I  hope  vivid  even,  with  the  charm  of 
reality ;  for  though  the  limitations  of  this  Arcadian  race 
made  his  young  years  miserable,  the  very  credulities  that 
bred  those  harsh  conditions  were  a  compensation,  in  the 
rounding  of  the  boy's  character  and  the  fitting  him  for  a 
sphere  of  wider  activities. 

Denny's  school-days  being  at  an  end,  his  kind  patron, 
Dr.  Marbury,  began  seriously  to  ponder  the  ways  and 
means  of  gratifying  the  boy's  desire  to  round  out  his 
schooling  in  college.  When  the  rumor  of  this  reached  the 
neighbors,  the  good  Doctor  was  well  abused  for  the  evil 
example.  What  would  become  of  the  farmers  if  the 
youths  taken  by  them  came  to  expect  such  ridiculous 
indulgence  ?  How  could  the  great  farms  that  made  the 
Caribee  Valley,  even  in  those  days,  the  garden  of  the  land, 
be  worked  successfully  if  boys  brought  from  the  city  to 
serve  apprentisage  got  the  notion  that  they  were  merely 
to  give  sign  of  love  of  learning  to  secure  a  college  term 
from  their  weakly  indulgent  patrons  ?  In  those  days, 
too,  there  was  hardly  a  farm-house  that  didn't  count  among 
the  members  of  the  family  an  apprentice,  whose  indenture 
bound  him  to  the  service  of  his  master  until  the  age  of 
twenty-one.  In  return  for  a  home,  clothes,  and  perfect 
equality  with  the  family,  the  apprentice  gave  all  the  winter 


A    TEXT  FROM  LEVITICUS.  179 

and  spring  months  to  the  jocund  toils  of  the  farm.  He 
was  regarded  as  a  son  of  the  family,  and  generally  the 
farmer's  name  was  added  to  his  own.  He  sat  at  the  same 
table,  shared  the  family  chariot  on  Sunday,  and  grew  up 
knowing  no  other  home  or  domestic  relation  than  that  of 
his  master's  family.  There  was  no  helot  line  between  the 
lord  of  the  land  and  his  servitor.  Jacob  tilled  the  fields  of 
Laban,  and  shared  his  feasts  and  fasts  with  perfect  equality. 
The  Marbury  Jacob  courted  his  master's  daughter,  and 
when  in  the  fullness  of  time  he  had  won  his  apprentice 
ship,  his  hundred  dollars,  span  of  horses,  and  yoke  of  oxen, 
he  married  his  Rachel,  and  either  settled  down  to  work  the 
paternal  acres  "  on  shares,"  or  struck  out  westward  to 
employ  the  secrets  of  husbandry,  and  the  alchemy  of 
energy,  upon  the  eager  waste  lands  of  the  young  West.  Of 
schooling  he  had  but  the  barest  rudiments,  though  in  that, 
little  as  it  was,  he,  for  the  most  part,  possessed  more 
knowledge  than  his  patron.  College,  even  to  the  sons  of 
the  most  thrifty  farmers,  was  a  rare  conclusion  to  the  sim 
ple  classes  of  the  village  or  district  school.  The  utmost 
that  was  considered  needful,  even  in  the  most  ambitious 
families,  was  a  brief  course  at  the  Academy  in  Calao  ;  then, 
as  now,  a  prosperous  sectarian  institution  of  the  Metho 
dists.  This  famous  academy  received  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  all  denominations,  and  its  roomy  halls  were 
filled  every  winter  with  pupils  from  every  county  in  the 
western  part  of  Imperia.  Accommodating  itself  to  the 
needs  of  the  country,  the  Academy  made  its  term  coinci 
dent  with  the  close  of  the  autumn  operations  and  the 
beginning  of  spring  work.  In  the  last  of  October  the 
winter  term  began,  and  by  the  middle  of  May  the  classes 
closed  for  the  summer. 

It  was  resolved  that  Denny  should  prepare  himself  for 
college  by  a  few  terms  at  Calao.     He  had  himself  earned 


I  So  THE  ALIENS. 

the  money  for  his  outfit.  The  chestnuts  of  Marbury  were 
a  free  preserve  to  the  boys  of  the  country-side,  and  Den 
ny,  up  early  in  the  frosty  October  mornings,  had  gathered 
great  stores  which  he  sold  in  Warchester.  So  that  the  kind 
Doctor's  narrow  means  were  not  taxed  for  the  lad's  ordi 
nary  needs.  He  set  out  in  the  well-laden  carry-all,  late  in 
October,  with  the  Doctor  and  Norah,  who  was  to  "  put  his 
room  to  rights,"  and  at  the  end  of  a  twenty  miles'  drive 
came  to  the  pretty  village  of  Calao.  The  buildings  were 
even  then  gray  and  venerable,  and  he  crossed  the  aca 
demic  threshold  with  a  throb  of  delight.  His  room  was  far 
up  under  the  gabled  roof.  It  was  bare  and  carpetless,  and 
all  Norah's  devising,  with  the  simple  furnishing  at  hand, 
could  not  make  it  inviting.  But  I  doubt  if  the  most  lux 
urious  of  the  Sybarite  quarters  at  Cambridge  to-day  ever 
gave  their  indulged  tenants  the  tranquil  joy  that  Denny 
felt,  as  he  sat  down  and  opened  his  "  Anthon  "  to  begin 
the  first  reading  of  that  grandiose  Latin  tongue  which  was 
to  make  him  kin  of  the  Roman  and  Greek  worthies.  His 
bleak  room  was  shared  by  a  student  quite  unlike  Denny 
in  his  habits  and  aspirations.  His  parents  had  insisted 
on  his  "  going  through  the  'Cadmy,"  and  the  lad  was  quite 
satisfied  to  humor  them.  He  was  rather  abashed  at 
first  by  his  comrade's  serious  views  of  the  duty  of  study, 
and  the  necessity  of  faithful  application.  After  the  first 
few  days  he  found  companions  of  congenial  aspirations, 
and  then  Denny  saw  little  of  him.  The  second  day  of  the 
term,  when  he  entered  the  class-room,  whom  should  he  see 
smiling  on  the  girl's  side  of  the  apartment  but  his  demure 
divinity,  Dilly  !  When  he  got  a  chance  to  speak  with  her, 
he  learned  that  she  had  entered  for  the  course,  and  was 
living  with  a  relative  in  the  village.  So,  from  that  time 
forth  he  had  a  double  stimulus  in  his  ardent  pursuit.  His 
achievements  were  to  be  under  the  adored  eyes  of  his 


A    TEXT  FROM  LEVITICUS.  181 

idol.  Often  and  often  it  was  his  felicity  to  help  her 
baffled  brain  in  the  construction  of  the  bewildering  Latin, 
or  the  resolution  of  some  mathematical  enigma.  Of  a 
Sunday  he  was  sometimes  invited  to  her  kinsman's  to  tea, 
and  once  a  fortnight  they  met  in  the  president's  drawing- 
room  at  the  Academic  soirees.  He  was  there  many  months 
before  his  alien  antecedents  found  him  out.  But  one 
bitter  day,  during  a  wrangle  in  some  game  on  the  play 
ground,  a  surly  contestant  met  his  attempt  at  peace 
making,  by  the  taunt : 

"  Oh,  you  Paddy,  keep  your  blarney  for  Dilly  Dane ; 
we  don't  want  any  of  it  here." 

Denny  paused,  palpitating  and  trembling.  He  had 
begun  to  think  that  these  precincts,  sacred  to  learning, 
were  a  haven  from  the  ills  of  his  school-days — that  the 
liberalizing  atmosphere  of  classic  erudition  was  free  from 
the  narrow  prejudices  and  prescriptive  arts  that  marred 
his  childhood.  He  quitted  the  grounds  without  a  word, 
and  thereafter  pushed  on  resolutely  in  his  studies.  This 
was  a  new  and  enchanting  world  to  him.  His  mind  ex 
panding  under  the  noble  radiance  of  Grecian  and  Roman 
history,  he  took  no  count  of  the  ignoble  realities  of  his 
day  and  surroundings.  Though  he  was  thenceforth  jocu 
larly  and  satirically  called  "Paddy,"  even  by  those  who 
had  no  purpose  of  bruising  his  spirit,  he  felt  no  sense  of 
hurt.  Above  all,  and  it  is  to  exhibit  this  that  I  dwell  so 
long  upon  these  details  of  his  youthful  hardships,  the  pro 
scription  of  his  fellows  made  no  inroads  on  the  wholesome 
fervor  of  his  impulses.  He  was  gay,  light-hearted,  and  in 
corrigibly  hopeful.  The  faculty,  for  the  most  part  clergy 
men,  marked  the  scholastic  enthusiast,  and  were  proud  of 
his  growing  distinction.  But,  so  deeply  rooted  was  the 
native  aversion  to  the  alien  race,  that  they  insensibly  fell 
into  the  habit  of  disparagement  common  to  their  pupils. 


1 82  THE  ALIENS. 

Without  acknowledging  such  a  thing  to  themselves,  they 
resented  the  pre-eminence  of  this  son  of  a  despised  nation 
ality,  possessing  traits  that  were  the  prescriptive  heritage 
of  the  children  of  the  soil.  One  day  the  word  patrician 
came  up  in  the  Latin  class,  and  Denny,  with  gentle  malice, 
traced  the  etymological  history,  ending  in  the  patronymic, 
Patrick. 

"  Is  that  the  reason  the  eldest  son  of  Irish  families  take 
the  given  name,  Patrick  ? "  asked  the  professor  suddenly, 
interrupting  the  recitation  and  addressing  Denny. 

"  I  don't  know,  sir,"  said  Denny,  blushing.  "  Patrick 
is  the  favorite  name  in  Ireland,  because  the  first  Roman 
bishop,  who  was  a  very  learned  and  good  man,  was  named 
Patrick." 

The  boys  tittered,  and  the  girls  tossed  their  heads. 
The  professor  smiled,  and  said  nothing  more.  Thereafter 
Denny  was  called  St.  Paddy  when  his  tormentors  meant 
to  be  humorously  satirical. 

One  day,  when  the  class  was  on  the  story  of  Ovid's 
exile,  the  professor  asked  why  the  Roman  State  succeeded 
beyond  its  rivals.  Various  reasons  were  given,  and,  when 
it  came  to  Denny's  turn,  he  said  : 

"  Because  every  man  who  deserved  well  was  made  a 
Roman  citizen,  no  matter  what  land  he  was  born  in;  and," 
he  added,  "  even  the  Britons,  who  were  the  most  despised 
of  the  barbarians,  shared  the  highest  rewards  of  the  state." 

But  his  proficiency  in  study  did  not  lessen  the  enmity 
of  his  comrades,  or  gain  the  real  regard  of  the  faculty. 
While  he  won  plaudits  in  the  class-room,  he  was  virtually 
shut  out  of  that  intimate  camaraderie  which  makes  the  joy 
of  youth  and  the  most  charming  retrospect  of  manhood. 
There  was  one  abiding  consolation  in  all  this  adversity. 
In  the  class-room,  the  social  assemblies,  when  whispered 
sarcasms  and  overt  enmity  were  most  trying,  a  gentle  eye 


A    TEXT  FROM  LEVITICUS.  183 

beamed  on  him  kindly,  and  a  tender  voice  whispered  en 
couragement  and  sympathy.  Dilly  resolutely  persisted  in 
refusing  to  see  inferiority  or  shame  in  Denny's  Irish  birth. 
She  bore  the  raillery  of  her  companions  good-naturedly, 
and,  while  she  entered  into  no  conspicuous  championship 
of  the  young  man,  she  let  it  be  seen  that  she  admired  and 
even  liked  him.  In  all  their  walks  under  the  clustering 
maples  of  Calao,  Denny  never  dreamed  of  love-making. 

To  touch  her  hand  he  would  have  regarded  as  pre 
sumption,  if  not  desecration.  For  insidiously  the  estimate 
of  his  fellows  in  a  subtle  way  ruled  his  self-esteem.  He 
thought  of  himself  as  a  species  of  intruder  or  pariah.  It 
was  the  ineffable  goodness  of  the  girl  that  made  her  suffer 
him  near  her.  It  was  her  timid  constraint  that  accepted 
his  delighted  help  in  her  studies,  where  every  boy  in 
school  would  have  been  proud  and  glad  to  aid  her.  Hum 
bly,  tenderly,  shrinkingly,  he  went  on  from  week  to  week, 
month  after  month,  forging  the  bonds  that  he  himself  alone 
was  blind  to.  When  the  term  was  ended,  one  lovely  May 
day,  they  set  out  together  in  the  Marbury  stage  homeward. 
Denny  had  taken  high  rank.  He  stood  first  in  all  his 
classes,  and,  indeed,  he  might  well  do  so,  for,  instead  of 
learning  the  prescribed  lessons  from  day  to  day,  he  had 
eagerly  gone  through  his  text-books,  and  could  have  en 
tered  higher,  while  his  mates  were  dawdling  in  their  first 
books.  Nor  did  he  remit  his  pursuit  of  learning  in  the 
long  summer  evenings  at  Marbury.  When  the  next  term- 
time  came,  Denny  was  qualified  to  enter  college  instead  of 
going  through  the  academic  preliminaries.  It  then  hap 
pened  that,  one  of  the  professors  falling  ill,  Denis  was  for 
the  term  intrusted  with  his  classes,  and  was  enabled  to  lay 
by  earnings  to  defray  the  first  expenses  of  his  college 
career.  But  with  this  dizzy  triumph  he  suffered  a  great 
blow.  The  gossip  of  Calao  had  reached  as  far  as  Mar- 


1 84  THE  ALIENS, 

bury,  and  Deacon  Dane  had  withdrawn  his  daughter  from 
the  Academy.  It  was  not  until  the  term  was  well  under 
way  that  Denny  learned  the  cause,  and  the  blow  nearly 
disheartened  him.  The  story  that  came  to  him  was  that 
the  Deacon  and  his  family  believed  that  he  had  taken  ad 
vantage  of  the  girl  to  attempt  to  win  her  affections.  The 
rumor  became  common  gossip  in  the  Academy,  and  he 
was  looked  upon  with  more  hostility  than  ever.  Then, 
under  pressure  from  the  social  forces  of  Calao,  he  was,  in 
the  middle  of  the  term,  removed  from  his  place,  and  an 
inferior  in  every  way  promoted  to  the  post.  Discouraged 
but  not  embittered  by  the  blow,  he  quitted  the  Academy 
and  returned  to  Marbury,  judging  it  useless  to  continue 
in  classes  where  there  was  nothing  to  be  learned.  This 
step  added  to  the  scandal.  It  was  an  evidence  that  he 
meant  to  follow  up  the  girl,  and  the  Danes  became  openly 
hostile  to  the  "upstart."  He  had  barely  arrived  when 
Norah  told  him  that  Dilly  had  been  sent  to  Warchester  to 
finish  her  schooling  at  a  fashionable  seminary.  One  day, 
while  he  was  working  in  the  field,  Tom  Dane,  who  had 
some  business  with  Dr.  Marbury,  tied  his  horse  and  fol 
lowed  Denny  into  the  harvest-fields  behind  the  red 
barn. 

"  I  hear  you're  going  to  college  in  Warchester  in  the 
fall  ? "  Tom  said,  after  a  casual  talk  on  another  matter. 

"  Yes,"  said  Denny  ;  "  I  hope  to  be  able  to  take  the  jun 
ior  and  senior  years.  I  have  worked  hard  to  get  ready, 
and  feel  pretty  sure  of  my  examinations." 

"  You  know,  of  course,  that  Dilly  is  in  the  city  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  I  have  heard  she  is  in  Miss  Churchill's  semi 
nary,"  replied  Denny,  astonished. 

Tom  coughed,  looked  very  much  embarrassed,  and 
then  blurted  out : 

"  Of  course  you  know,  Denny,  our  folks   don't  like 


A    TEXT  FROM  LEVITICUS.  185 

to  have  you  courting  Dilly  ;  she — can't  marry  you,  you 
know." 

Denny  held  a  cradle  in  his  hand.  He  laid  it  down, 
and,  looking  fixedly  at  Tom,  he  said  quite  calmly  : 

"  I  never  courted  Dilly.  I  never  thought  of  asking 
her  to  marry  me.  We  have  been  good  friends  because 
she  is  the  only  one  of  my  age  who  has  been  kind  to  me. 
I — I — "  But  here  he  broke  down,  and  the  tears  came  to 
his  eyes. 

"  Oh,  well,  Den,  there  ain't  no  use  in  boohooing  about 
it.  Dill's  a  soft  sort  of  a  piece,  and  she  would  be  in  love 
with  you  just  to  spite  the  other  girls  that  poked  fun  at 
you.  I  think  she  rather  pretended  to  be  so  much  taken 
with  you  to  tease  the  old  man.  He  like  to  have  a  fit 
when  Dill  told  him  she  would  marry  you." 

"  Did  Dilly — did  your  sister  say  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  the  old  folks  were  teasing  her,  and  she  sort  o' 
made  believe  to  be  very  much  smitten  with  you.  I  knew 
very  well  it  was  just  out  o'  contrariness,  and  I  told  them 
so ;  but  they  were  sure  you  meant  to  elope  with  her,  and 
all  sorts  of  trash  things.  I  thought  I'd  have  a  talk  with 
you  between  ourselves.  I'm  glad  to  see  that  Dill  was 
only  shamming.  You  know  our  folks  have  set  their  hearts 
upon  having  Ed  Kenneth  for  son-in-law.  Their  farm  is 
next  ours,  and  our  pastures  need  their  brook  to  make  them 
yield  all  that's  in  them.  It's  no  particular  interest  of 
mine,  you  understand.  If  Dill  should  marry  you,  I'd  get 
the  farm,  for  the  old  man  would  never  leave  her  a  red 
cent." 

I  doubt  if  Denny  heard  a  word  of  all  this  homespun 
diplomacy,  beyond  the  one  overmastering  assertion  that 
Dilly  had  acknowledged  her  love  for  him.  He  swung  the 
cradle  with  a  giant's  force  and  a  dreamer's  aberration  for 
the  next  hour.  He  hardly  noticed  the  astonished  Tom,  as 


1 86  THE  ALIENS. 

that  mystified  youth  sauntered  away,  leaving  a  broad 
swath  of  quivering  wheat-tops  behind  him  as  he  viciously 
whipped  the  golden  stalks  with  his  short,  thick  riding- 
whip. 

Dilly  loved  him.  This  was  the  sentence  that  rang  in 
Denny's  ears.  She  was  there  before  him  in  all  her  gentle, 
confiding  loveliness.  Her  eyes  were  the  azure  blossoms 
that  he  rescued  with  every  swath  in  the  golden  maize  that 
tumbled  from  the  sweeping  knife.  The  soft  murmur  of 
the  summer  breeze,  swaying  the  golden  sheen  before  him, 
was  the  echo  of  the  tenderness  her  voice  had  always  as 
sumed  when  she  encouraged  him  to  pay  no  heed  to  the 
taunts  of  his  revilers.  When  Norah  came  out  into  the 
field  with  his  luncheon,  as  she  often  did  in  harvest,  his 
eyes  were  so  bright  that  she  said  with  placid  naivete : 

"  Denny,  dear,  one  would  say  that  you  had  been  gloz- 
ing  all  day  with  the  little  people,  and  that  you  had  been 
given  the  blossom  of  good  luck  !  Have  you  been  finding 
a  four-leaved  clover,  or  have  you  turned  up  the  pebble  of 
the  Wicklow  sleepers  ?  " 

He  threw  down  his  cradle,  and,  taking  her  in  his  arms, 
kissed  her  fondly. 

"  O  Nody,  I'm  very  happy.  The  fairies  have  been 
with  me  the  whole  day,  and  ye'd  never  guess  what  they've 
been  telling  me." 

"  Where  the  seeds  of  the  blue-bell  cups  hide  on  Hal 
lowe'en  ? " 

"  No." 

"  Where  the  furze  hides  its  gold  ?  " 

"No." 

"  Where  the  diamonds  go  in  the  bed  of  the  brook  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  Where  the  honey-birds  go  in  winter  ? "  (Norah  called 
the  humming-birds  "  honey-birds.") 


A    TEXT  FROM  LEVITICUS.  1 87 

"  No  ;  you'd  never  guess,  and  I'm  not  going  to  tell 
you,  because  it's  a  secret,  and  I'd  have  bad  luck  if  I  told 
ye." 

This  explanation' was  taken  quite  soberly  by  Norah. 
The  credulity  of  her  race  was  stronger  with  her  than  it 
was  with  Denny,  for  he  only  preserved  a  tolerant  belief  in 
the  traditions  he  had  learned  from  his  mother.  To  Norah 
they  were  awful  verities,  not  to  be  lightly  talked  of  nor 
dismissed  with  levity.  She  sat  down  on  a  level  sheaf  and 
spread  the  simple  repast,  regarding  the  favored  of  the 
fairies  with  something  of  awe,  and  waiting  for  him  to  im 
part  whatever  he  thought  wise  in  his  character  of  goblin 
minister.  But  he  did  not  refer  to  the  subject  again,  and, 
when  she  went  back  with  the  empty  basket,  she  was  eagerly 
alert  to  catch  the  first  token  from  the  powers  of  the  air 
that  might  indicate  that  she  too  was  to  be  inducted  into 
the  mysterious  band.  She  whispered  to  the  wrens  in  the 
alderberry  thicket,  and  made  all  manner  of  friendly  ad 
vances  ;  but  beyond  a  vehement  scolding  from  a  startled 
cat-bird,  she  could  arouse  no  voice  that  seemed  to  con 
vey  any  intelligible  token  to  her  anxious  ear. 

That  night,  when  she  bade  Denny  good-night,  it  was  he 
who  closed  the  door,  and  when,  hours  afterward,  she  peeped 
softly  through  into  his  room,  she  could  see  him,  still  dressed, 
leaning  on  the  window-sill  and  gazing  rapturously  at  the 
crystal  spots  in  the  sky  that  glimmered  like  a  maze  of 
tremulous  diamonds  in  the  dark-blue  horizon.  She  sighed 
gently.  She  too  had  studied  these  same  silent  symbols  of 
the  night,  in  tears  and  anguish,  in  rapture  and  hope, 
in  disappointment  and  woe.  She  wondered  if  the  same 
poignant  questionings  were  in  his  heart ;  the  same  weary 
despairing  !  She  wondered  if  he  too  saw  in  the  misty  air  a 
form  he  thought  of  by  day  and  dreamed  of  by  night,  and 
waked  to  think  of  and  dream  again,  sometimes  in  buoyant 


1 88  THE  ALIENS. 

hope,  sometimes  in  heart-breaking  misery.  No,  the  fairies 
had  given  him  the  sign,  and  he  had  a  touchstone  that 
could  compel  fidelity.  Perhaps  if  she  told  him,  he  might 
bring  the  form  she  loved  back,  or  teach  her  how  to  con 
jure  it.  Oh,  no,  she  dare  not  name  her  secret  !  She 
must — wait !  Alas,  her  secret !  It  was  nearly  two  years 
now  since  the  handsome  sweetheart  had  stood  under  the 
bramble-bush  and  pressed  his  mouth  to  her  lips. 

He  had  forgotten  her.  He  came  no  more  to  Malvern. 
She  had  gone  over  there  with  the  Doctor  during  the  sum 
mer,  but  among  the  great  folks  she  saw  no  sign  of  her 
Endymion.  She  had  begun  to  confuse  the  memory  of  him 
with  the  roseate  fictions  of  Denny's  telling.  To-night  she 
was  so  moved  by  the  unreality  of  his  ever  having  been, 
that  it  would  have  been  easy  for  her  to  prattle  the  tale  to 
Denny  if  he  had  but  invited  her  confidence.  But  he,  poor 
boy,  was  in  that  state  of  transport  that  comes  to  us  when 
we  discover  that  the  miracle  we  had  dreamed  of — de 
spaired  of — is  a  reality,  and  that  we  have  but  to  ask,  that 
it  may  come  to  pass. 

And  so  the  brother  and  sister,  knit  by  alien  destiny  into 
a  tenderness  and  intimacy  surpassing  the  love  of  lovers, 
were  sundered  by  an  impassable  barrier  from  sharing  the 
confidence  that  would,  perhaps,  have  averted  the  fateful 
tragedy  of  one  life  and  the  cruel  trials  of  another. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

LADY    MOLLY    FALLS   INTO    BROGUE. 

AUTUMN'S  touch  was  on  the  landscape.  The  vine 
that  hugged  the  elm  confessed  it  first,  and  the  tint  of 
bronze  on  the  oak  confirmed  it.  The  long  sweep  of  dusty 


LADY  MOLLY  FALLS  INTO  £  ROGUE.       189 

road  from  Dr.  Marbury's  was  alive  with  the  gay  equipages 
of  the  world  at  Malvern  of  an  afternoon.  The  meadows 
were  baked  bare  and  glistening  under  the  hot  September 
sun.  The  wheat  and  hay  had  long  since  been  garnered, 
and  rose  in  green  and  golden  pyramids  under  the  sloping 
hills.  The  tasseled  corn  stood  thick  and  shining  in  the 
back  uplands,  and  the  threshers  were  busy  in  the  vast 
red  barn  to  make  the  wheat  ready  for  the  mill.  The 
voices  of  the  men  could  be  heard  in  joyous  chorus  echoing 
and  re-echoing  for  a  square  mile.  It  was  near  tea-time, 
and  Denny,  standing  at  the  well,  between  the  house  and 
lane,  saw  a  grand  carriage  stop  just  before  the  gate  at  the 
road.  The  coachman  got  down  and  examined  the  leg  of 
one  of  the  horses,  shook  his  head  dubitably,  and,  as  an 
elderly  personage  on  the  back  seat  leaned  out,  seemed  to 
report  to  him.  The  latter  got  out  slowly,  and  he  too  scru 
tinized  the  animal's  foot.  This  done  he  turned  and 
glanced  toward  the  house.  Ceremony  is  not  part  of  coun 
try  life,  even  to-day,  and  Denny,  bred  in  the  simple  ways 
of  the  vicinage,  ran  down  the  lane  to  proffer  his  services 
if  they  were  needed.  The  coachman  had,  however, 
opened  the  gate  and  met  him  half-way  down  the  lane. 

"  My  master,  Lord  Poultney,  bids  me  ask  if  he  can 
drive  his  horses  into  your  stable,  and  borrow  one  from  you 
to  take  his  coach  back  to  Malvern ;  one  of  our  horses  has 
gone  lame  and  can't  travel  farther." 

Denny  had  accompanied  the  man  back  to  the  road, 
and  he  said,  as  he  reached  Lord  Poultney  : 

"  Dr.  Marbury  has  gone  to  the  city,  but  if  you  will 
please  come  in  and  wait,  perhaps  some  of  the  men  at  the 
barn  can  help  your  horse." 

"Ah,  it's  Dr.  Marbury  that  lives  here,  is  it,  my  lad?" 
exclaimed  a  cheery  voice,  and  Denny  saw  a  kind,  good- 
humored  face  smiling  at  him  from  the  carriage. 


190  THE  ALIENS. 

"Yes'm;  Dr.  Marbury." 

"  Ah,  well,  me  lord,  we'll  be  welcome,  and  I'm  glad  to 
go  in,  for  I've  heerd  a  great  deal  of  the  Doctor's  foine 
deery,  and  I'm  dying  to  see  the  maids  working  the  buther. 
Drive  in,  Mick  ;  I'll  walk  with  me  lord,"  and,  sure  enough, 
down  plumped  the  gay  Lady  Molly,  to  Denny's  great  de 
light,  and  taking  her  lord's  arm,  while  she  kept  her  eye  on 
Denny,  walked  joyously  up  the  apple-scented  lane. 

"  Sure,  it's  the  land  o'  Canaan  ye  have  here,  me  lad. 
Oh,  luk  at  the  apples — like  me  sisther  Rosie's  cheeks  for  all 
th'  world.  And  the  sweet  smells — by  me  soul,  me  lord,  I'd 
like  to  live  here,  and,  indeed,  I  would.  The  like  of  that 
hedge  I  never  set  eyes  on  since  I  left  the  ditches  of  Wick- 
low,  God's  glory  to  it !  And  the  gooseberries  !  O  me 
lord,  did  ye  ever  lay  eyes  on  such  berries  ?  I  must  stop 
and  ate  wan  " ;  and,  stooping  down,  she  picked  a  handful  of 
the  plumpest  of  the  freckled  fruit,  smacking  her  lips  with  a 
relish  that  did  Denny's  heart  good,  as  he  afterward  con 
fided  to  Norah  ;  and  the  honest  woman  held  her  amused 
lord  in  the  lane  until  she  had  finished  her  feast. 

"  Ton  me  honor,  I  envy  the  Doctor,  and  I'd  like  to  live 
here  the  whole  summer.  And  ye  have  th'  threshing,  me 
lad  ?  And  I  see  the  hayricks  in  the  fields  beyant.  Indeed, 
I'd  like  nothing  betther  than  climbing  them.  Ye  think  I 
couldn't,  me  bye  ? "  she  interjected,  as  Denny's  eyes  meas 
ured  her  ample  shape  and  stout  figure.  "  Indeed,  then, 
I  could.  Many's  the  time  Phil  Foley  and  meself  played 
on  the  top  of  the  ricks  with  the  gurls  and  byes  of  Car- 
low?" 

"I  fancy,  Molly,  you'd  find  yourself  too  stout  for 
games  of  that  sort  now,"  interrupted  my  lord,  laugh 
ing. 

"  Fat  is  it  ?  Then,  indeed,  I'm  not.  I'll  wager  I 
could  retch  that  stile  beyant  before  the  young  chap  here. 


LADY  MOLLY  FALLS  INTO  BROGUE.       191 

Will  ye  give  me  the  dar  ?  Say  it,  now,  give  me  the  dar,  if 
ye  dar." 

"  Oh,  indeed,  no,  Molly.  I  know  you  too  well ;  you'd 
run  a  race  with  the  Graces,  if  the  two  others  were  left  on 
earth  to  contend  with  you."  And  the  old  lord,  taking  her 
plump  hand,  kissed  it  gallantly. 

"  No  wonder  I  couldn't  say  no  to  ye,  ye  blarneying 
rogue  !  "  and  she  gave  the  delighted  old  lover  a  hug,  as 
simply  unconscious  of  Denny  as  though  she  had  been  in 
the  securest  conjugal  seclusion.  Remarking  Denny's  ad 
miring  sympathy  in  this  honest  domestic  outbreak,  she 
quitted  her  husband's  arm,  and,  putting  her  hand  under 
the  boy's  chin,  held  back  her  voluminous  skirts  with  the 
other,  and  said,  with  serio-comic  jauntiness  : 

"  Were  ye  ever  in  love,  me  lad  ?  Ha,  ha  !  ye're  blush 
ing  like  the  Shannon  wather  when  the  redcoats  crossed  it. 
Very  well,  me  lad.  When  ye  marry,  if  ye're  half  the  man 
to  yer  sweetheart  mine  is  to  me,  ye  wouldn't  change 
places  with  the  King  of  Kerry.  And  what  are  ye  called  ? 
Ye're  no  Marbury,  with  your  brown  hair  and  gray  een. 
I'll  engage  ye're  a  Mick,  now,  as  they  call  us  in  Warches- 
ter." 

"I'm  called  Denis  Boyne,  ma'am." 

"  To  be  sure  it  is.  Denis  Boyne,  long  life  te  ye. 
And,  Denis  Boyne,  ye're  a  foine,  well-turned  lad,  and 
keep  the  divil  from  yer  eye  when  ye  luk  at  the  gurls,  for 
there's  none  of  them'll  stop  to  plait  their  hair  when  ye 
give  them  that  blushing  luk,  me  boy  !  " 

And  with  this  Lady  Molly  broke  into  a  merry  laugh 
that  quite  set  Denny  into  ecstasy.  He  could  scarcely 
credit  it.  Here  was  a  great  lady — a  countess — the  wife  of 
Lord  Poultney — not  only  Irish,  but  proud  of  it,  and 
lavishing  her  brogue  as  another  would  the  French  accent 
or  the  English  drawl !  The  little  comedy  had  been  acted 
9 


1 92  THE  ALIENS. 

near  enough  to  be  seen  and  heard  in  the  dairy,  where 
Norah  was  preparing  her  pans  for  the  evening  milk.  She 
ran  out  to  the  gate,  and  caught  sight  of  the  fine  lady  in 
silks  holding  Denny's  chin  with  the  whitest  and  most  be- 
witchingly  dimpled  hand  that  could  be  imagined.  Norah 
was  bareheaded,  and  the  slanting  sunbeams  made  her 
tresses  a  shining  nodus  for  the  sun-rays  to  sport  with, 
framed  in  the  soft  rich  tints  of  the  hedge.  Lady  Molly 
stopped  in  surprise,  then  came  quite  up  to  the  astonished 
maiden. 

"  Ye're  his  sister;  I  can  see  that.  Ah,  me  gentle  gurl, 
ye '11  have  God's  cross  and  the  divil's  crown  in  that  lovely 
face  if  ye're  not  wise  every  hour  yer  eyes  are  open.  Ye're 
Denis's  sister,  aren't  ye  ? " 

"Yes,  my  lady" — for  Norah  had  seen  Lady  Molly  at 
Malvern. 

"And  we're  coming  to  the  deery  to  see  you  at  th' 
buther." 

"Oh,  I'm  afraid  you'll  get  your  fine  gown  spoiled; 
won't  you  please  to  sit  in  the  parlor?"  and  Norah  moved 
as  if  to  go  to  prepare  that  tabernacle  of  the  solemnities. 

"  Parlor  indeed !  with  this  musky  air  and  th'  green  of 
the  trees,  like  the  wathers  of  Killarney,  in  bits  above  yer 
head.  Divil  o'  wan  o'  me '11  put  foot  on  carpet  while  I 
can  stand  on  this  green  grass." 

"  But,  Molly,  we  must  really  apologize  to  Mrs.  Mar- 
bury  for  this  intrusion.  My  good  girl,  will  you  show  us 
to  your — your — to  Mrs.  Marbury  ?  " 

Aunt  Selina  at  this  moment  came  to  the  door.  She 
was  knitting  a  stocking,  and  quite  unsuspicious  of  the 
presence  of  strangers.  She  was  very  short  of  sight,  and 
at  this  moment  her  glasses  were  pushed  up  on  her  fore 
head,  so  that  she  could  not  distinguish  anything  more  than 
the  outline  of  the  group.  Lady  Molly  pushed  through  the 


LADY  MOLLY  FALLS  INTO  BROGUE.       193 

open  gate,  and,  as  the  good  lady  leaned  against  the  door, 
plying  her  needles  swiftly,  she  was  at  her  side  before  Aunt 
Selina  discovered  that  it  was  not  Norah  or  the  kitchen- 
maid. 

"  Mrs.  Marbury,  we  make  bold  to  come  in  on  ye  with 
out  ceremony,  for  a  little  while.  Yer  husband,  Dr.  Mar- 
bury,  is  a  friend  of  my  husband,  Lord  Poultney." 

"  Oh,  Lady  Poultney,  why  didn't  the  children  bring  you 
right  in  ?  Tea  is  going  to  be  a  little  late,  for  we  have  the 
threshers  ;  but  I  hope  you  won't  mind." 

"  If  ye'll  be  so  kind,  Mrs.  Marbury.  Pardon  me,  this  is 
my  husband,  Lord  Poultney — Mrs.  Marbury.  As  I  was 
saying,"  continued  Lady  Molly,  caressing  a  cluster  of 
woodbine  that  ran  up  by  the  doorway  over  a  trellis,  "  we 
are  only  waiting  for  a  horse.  One  of  ours  has  given  out, 
and  your  young  man  tells  us  that  Dr.  Marbury'll  be  back 
soon.  If  you  will  kindly  let  us  look  into  your  deery  and 
barn,  and  browse  around  the  garden  and  orchard,  we 
shall  be  deeply  obliged." 

"  Oh,  but  you  must  really  come  into  the  parlor  and 
rest  first,"  protested  Aunt  Selina,  somewhat  recovered 
from  her  confusion. 

My  lord  resolutely  favored  this  proposition.  He  was 
fatigued,  he  said,  and  as  for  his  wife,  she  might  divert  her 
self  in  the  fields  if  she  liked.  So  off  went  Lady  Molly, 
carrying  Norah  and  Denny  with  her,  quite  as  if  she  had 
known  them  both  since  the  days  she  romped  in  the  Vale 
of  the  Seven  Sleepers  in  Wicklow.  She  uttered  a  cry  of 
great  delight  as  Denny  helped  her  down  the  mossy  steps 
into  the  "  deery,"  and  when  she  saw  the  cool  slabs,  the 
shining  pans,  the  glistening  delf  jars,  and  the  heaps  of 
yellow  butter-pats,  she  was  quite  transfigured  with  joy. 

"  Oh,  many's  the  day  I  stud  on  the  covvld  clay  flure 
and  made  th'  buther  at  home.  And  have  ye  th'  sprig  o1 


194 


THE  ALIENS. 


mint  we  always  put  in  the  linen  to  keep  the  buther  fresh 
and  sweet  ?  And  the  buther-milk  ?  Ah,  me  dear,  give 
me  a  big  bowl  of  it.  That  bates  the  Wicklow  milk ;  sure 
there's  enough  buther  in  it  to  make  a  pat !  "  and  she 
laughed  like  a  delighted  child  as  she  held  the  big  bowl  in 
her  hand  after  a  copious  draught. 

And  then,  having  given  her  opinion  of  the  dairy,  and 
held  her  white  hand  in  the  icy  water  of  the  spring  until  it 
became  rosy,  she  carried  the  two  enraptured  young  people 
out  into  the  orchard,  and  bade  Denny  lead  her  to  all  his 
favorite  places.  The  lad  wished  nothing  better,  and  there 
was  great  laughter  when  Lady  Molly  stopped  and  asked 
Norah  for  a  pin  to  hold  back  "me  gown,"  for  not  a 
"  toe "  could  she  take  that  it  didn't  catch  in  the  bram 
bles.  She  lifted  and,  folding  the  front  widths,  pinned 
them  back  into  a  tail  such  as  you  may  see  when  a  good 
housewife  has  company  and  gives  a  hand  in  the  kitchen. 

It  was  a  very  gay  party  then  that  set  out  over  the  fields. 
Denny  made  straight  for  the  dell  by  the  brookside,  to  show 
the  cheery  lady  the  oriole's  nest,  and  the  deep  pool  that 
was  said  to  have  no  bottom.  During  the  ramble  Lady 
Molly  beguiled  the  boy  and  girl  into  such  garrulous  prat 
tling  that  when,  two  hours  later,  they  returned  to  the  house, 
she  knew  the  story  of  their  sad  lives  ;  and  once  or  twice 
she  turned,  as  the  tale  was  told,  and  brushed  something 
from  her  eyes  that  was  not  a  gnat  nor  the  pestiferous 
thistle-flies  that  pursued  them.  The  Doctor  had  not  re 
turned  when  the  party  reached  the  house.  Tea  was  set 
in  the  parlor,  and  my  lord  sat  down  with  relish  to  the 
broiled  lake-fish,  crisp  "biscuit,"  and  countless  country 
rarities  that  Aunt  Selina  had  the  secret  of  improvising 
from  her  ample  stores.  Lady  Molly  was  all  gayety,  and 
Lord  Poultney  was  obviously  interested  in  the  homely 
good-breeding  of  the  hostess.  For,  after  the  first  embar- 


LADY  MOLLY  FALLS  INTO  BROGUE.       195 

rassing  moment,  Aunt  Selina  was  equal  to  the  entertain 
ment  of  a  prince.  Her  speech  was  full  of  a  serene  good 
sense  that  held  attention,  and,  when  she  was  sure  of  her 
company,  she  was  capable  of  a  pleasant  humor  that  greatly 
delighted  Denis  when  she  fell  into  it.  Lady  Molly's  hearty 
enjoyment  of  the  place,  her  extravagant  declarations  of 
immediately  settling  in  the  country,  captivated  Mrs.  Mar- 
bury,  and  the  two  ladies  entered  into  a  discussion  of  the 
joys  of  such  a  life. 

"  But  what  should  I  do  without  a  pretty  maid  like  this 
to  keep  me  deery  ? "  asked  Lady  Molly,  beaming  on  the 
crimson  Norah.  "  Ah,  me  lass,  there'll  be  many  a  call  for 
yer  blushes  when  ye'll  need  them  more.  Some  fine  bye'll 
be  claiming  all  that  rosiness  for  his  own." 

"  In  the  country,  girls  don't  have  time  to  think  of  sweet 
hearts,"  said  Aunt  Selina,  making  a  diversion  in  Norah's 
favor.  "  Norah  will  be  devoting  herself  to  me  for  many  a 
year.  But  here's  Denis.  He's  full  of  ambition.  He's 
going  to  leave  us  to  get  learning.  He  wants  to  be  a  law 
yer,  and  go  to  Congress,  and  who  knows  what." 

"  Yes,  the  lad's  been  telling  me  his  notions,  and  I  hope 
he'll  get  on  in  them.  He  must  be  a  very  good  bye,  Mrs. 
Marbury." 

"  Oh,  Denny  is  a  very  good  boy,  we  think,  and  we're 
not  afraid  of  spoiling  him  by  telling  it.  When  the  War- 
chesters  were  here  a  year  or  two  ago,  they  thought  Denny 
as  well  learned  as  Mr.  Darcy,  who  had  been  at  West 
Point." 

"  And  d'ye  know  the  Warchesters  ? "  asked  Lady  Molly 
with  interest. 

"  My  husband  went  to  college  with  the  Colonel,  and 
they  are  very  warm  friends.  We  never  met  Madame  War- 
chester  but  once.  She  was  here  with  her  family.  I  sup 
pose  you  know  them  well  ? " 


196  THE  ALIENS. 

"Indeed,  no.  A  drop  of  Irish  blood  is  as  bad  to 
madame  as  pork  to  a  Jew,  or  holly-berries  to  a  banshee." 

"I  thought  Mrs.  Warchester  a  very  proud  woman," 
Aunt  Selina  answered  simply,  "  but  I  didn't  think  her  so 
wicked  as  that." 

She  was  a  good  deal  puzzled  to  say  just  how  wicked, 
for  she  didn't  know  how  obnoxious  pork  was  to  a  Jew,  nor 
the  repugnance  which  a  banshee  might  have  for  holly-ber 
ries — nor  even  what  a  banshee  was.  But,  from  her  lady 
ship's  tone,  Aunt  Selina  imagined  the  banshee  a  sort  of 
deity  that  had  anathematized  the  holly  as  a  sinister 
growth. 

"Oh,  it  isn't  wicked  she  is.  It's  crazy!"  said  Lady 
Molly  judicially.  "  She's  that  set  in  her  ways  she'd  make 
Peter  open  a  side-wicket  if  she  saw  meself  entering  the 
gate  of  paradise  with  her  !  It  gives  her  joy  that  the  path 
to  heaven  is  straight  and  narrow,  that  she  may  be  sure  of 
no  doubtful  person  walking  it  with  her,"  and  Lady  Molly 
laughed  as  she  saw  Denny  grinning  behind  his  cup. 

"  I'm  surprised  that  none  of  the  prejudice  of  the 
mother  is  evident  in  her  son.  He  seemed  to  me  a  sensi 
ble,  good-hearted  young  fellow,"  Aunt  Selina  said,  not 
wishing  to  subject  the  wife  of  her  husband's  friend  to  a 
too  exhaustive  analysis  before  the  young  people. 

"Is  it  Darcy  ?  He's  a  fine  lad!  There's  not  a  dis 
honest  hair  in  his  head,  and  I'll  go  bail  he  spakes  his  mind 
to  the  mother  when  she  takes  on  before  him.  He's  not 
spoiled  yet,  but  there's  no  knowing  when  he  will  be.  It 
broke  his  mother's  heart  that  the  father  let  him  have  his 
way  about  going  into  the  army.  It's  my  belief  the  bye 
chose  it  to  get  out  of  the  mother's  road  sooner,  for,  if  he 
had  gone  to  college,  he  would  have  had  her  airs  and  graces 
in  his  porridge  till  he  was  married." 

"  He's  too  young  for  that  this  many  a  year,"  said  my 


LADY  MOLLY  FALLS  INTO  BROGUE.       197 

lord,  intending  to  draw  his  wife  away  from  discussing  the 
mother. 

"  He's  twenty-two,  coming  January ;  a  year  or  two 
older  than  Denis  there,  and  at  home  b'yes  often  marry  at 
eighteen  or  twenty." 

But  my  lord,  foreseeing  the  danger  of  going  further 
into  the  domestic  affairs  of  the  Warchesters,  rose  from  the 
table,  and  asked  Denny  to  show  him  the  way  to  the  barn. 
It  was  now  late  twilight,  and  the  Doctor  had  not  yet  come. 
Denny  proposed,  if  his  lordship  were  tired  of  waiting,  to  go 
to  a  neighbor's  and  borrow  a  horse,  and,  Lord  Poultney 
assenting,  he  went  to  the  stable  and  got  a  lamp.  When 
he  came  to  the  house,  Lady  Molly  scouted  the  idea. 

"  Sure,  we're  in  no  hurry,  and  we  may  as  well  be  here 
as  in  the  crowded  hotel  at  Malvern.  It  isn't  often  we  fall 
in  with  such  pleasant  company,  and  are  made  free  of  so 
many  delightful  things.  It's  all  wan  to  us  whether  we're 
back  now  or  at  midnight.  Anyway,  we'll  see  the  milk 
strained  and  panned,  and  then,  if  the  Doctor  isn't  come, 
Denny  may  go  and  borrow  a  horse." 

It  was  nine  o'clock  when  Lady  Molly  finally  appeared 
from  the  "deery"  and  assented  to  Denny's  quest.  He 
ran  down  the  lane,  and  nearly  dropped  the  lamp  with 
fright  as  the  glad  whinny  of  the  Doctor's  horses  saluted 
him.  They  were  standing  quietly  at  the  gate,  but  when 
Denny,  in  amazement,  called  the  Doctor,  there  was  no  re 
sponse.  He  ran  to  the  side  and  held  his  lantern  over  the 
vehicle.  No  sign  of  the  Doctor !  Opening  the  gate,  he 
drove  the  horses  into  the  front  yard,  and  ran  into  the 
house.  Perhaps  the  Doctor  had  gone  up  through  the 
field,  supposing  the  gate  open.  The  horses  often  came  up 
from  the  road  by  themselves.  There  were  surprise  and 
vague  alarm  when  he  entered,  and,  not  finding  the  Doctor, 
told  his  story. 


1 98  THE  ALIENS. 

Aunt  Selina  was  trembling  and  white.  She  could 
hardly  speak  as  she  bade  Denny  get  into  the  vehicle  and 
drive  her  back  on  the  road  toward  Warchester. 

"  You  don't  fear  any  accident,  do  you  ?  "  asked  Lady 
Molly,  in  quick  sympathy  with  the  overmastering  anguish 
she  saw  in  the  wife's  face.  Aunt  Selina  was  feverishly  ad 
justing  her  bonnet,  and,  turning  away  with  a  moan,  she 
said,  brokenly : 

"  The  Doctor  is  troubled  with  epileptic  attacks,  and 
may  have  fallen  by  the  roadside.  God  grant  that  we  may 
not  be  too  late.  I  am  sorry  to  leave  you  like  this — " 

"  Oh,  pray  don't  think  of  us.  We  shall  stay  all  night 
if  you  will  permit — that  is,  if  we  can  be  of  service  in  your 
distress." 

But  Aunt  Selina  did  not  hear  the  kind  proffer.  She 
was  hurrying  after  Denny,  and  a  moment  later  they  heard 
the  wheels  rolling  down  the  lane.  When  the  carriage 
reached  the  road,  Denny,  by  Aunt  Selina's  direction,  got 
out  with  the  lantern  and  searched  each  side  of  the  high 
way.  The  quest  was  continued  perhaps  a  half  mile,  to  the 
limit  of  the  Marbury  farm,  when  Denny,  holding  the  light 
over  his  head  to  peer  into  the  fence-corner,  stumbled  over 
something.  It  was  the  Doctor's  body,  lying  just  off  the 
carriage-way.  The  face  was  downward,  and,  as  Denny 
stooped  over  him,  he  noticed  that  the  soft  grassy  soil  was 
covered  by  perhaps  two  inches  of  water.  He  had  prob 
ably  been  stricken  suddenly  by  his  malady,  had  pulled  the 
lines  unequally,  the  horses  had  shied  from  the  road  and 
thrown  him  out  as  the  carriage  leaned  over  the  slight  ridge. 
In  a  moment  the  stricken  wife  was  at  the  side  of  the  body. 
She  wailed  to  the  dead  ears  despairing  calls  ;  but  the  lips 
were  forever  silent.  The  two  inches  of  water  had  been  as 
fatal  as  the  deeps  of  the  ocean.  He  was  stone  dead.  It 
took  all  Denny's  and  Aunt  Selina's  strength  to  lift  the 


LADY  MOLLY  FALLS  INTO  JS ROGUE. 


199 


body  into  the  carriage,  and  with  bursting  hearts  they  car 
ried  the  dead  body  back  to  the  desolated  hearth.  Lady 
Molly  displayed  another  phase  of  her  whimsically  diverse 
character.  It  was  she  who  became  for  the  time  head  of 
the  household.  Her  hearty  voice  fell  into  the  soft  measure 
of  the  plaintive  group.  She  whisked  her  lord  off,  saying, 
as  she  pushed  him  outside  the  door : 

"  Tis  no  place  for  the  likes  of  you,  me  dear.  When 
Death's  in  the  house,  the  cabin  and  castle's  kin.  These 
poor  childer  " — Lady  Molly  referred  sweepingly  to  Aunt 
Selina  and  the  brother  and  sister  in  this  general  way — 
"these  poor  unfortunates'll  need  a  frindly  heart  for  a 
while.  It's  little  good  I  do  in  the  world,  at  all,  at  all ;  so 
begone  with  ye,  me  darlin',  and  let  me  do  as  I'd  have 
others  do  to  me." 

Lord  Poultney  looked  with  moist  eyes  into  the  troubled 
face  of  his  wife,  and  with  a  conjugal  embrace,  as  he 
reached  the  shelter  of  the  lilacs,  said  tremulously  : 

"What  a  heart  of  gold  you  have,  Molly!  What  a 
glad  man  I  am  that  I  had  the  sense  to  see  the  jewel  that 
you  are !  Ah,  Molly,  Molly  !  how  much  of  my  life  was 
wasted  in  not  meeting  you  in  the  days  when  I  had  some 
thing  more  than  this  worn  old  body  to  give  in  return  for 
a  heart  so  good  and  noble  !  " 

"  Be  away  width  ye,"  she  said,  looking  up  at  him  with 
swimming  eyes.  u  Sure  it's  the  tongue  of  blarney  ye 
have,  and  ye're  younger  this  minute  than  the  bye  beyant !  " 

When  she  re-entered  the  house,  Aunt  Selina  still  hov 
ered  over  the  pale  face — the  body  stretched  on  the  bed. 
Molly  gently  forced  her  away.  The  dismal  offices  of  pre 
paring  the  grave-clothes  were  undertaken  and  carried  on 
by  the  energetic  Irishwoman,  everybody  coming  to  her 
for  directions.  She  never  quitted  the  scene  of  this  uncon 
genial  and  self-imposed  ministry  until  all  the  dreadful 


200  THE  ALIENS. 

work  was  at  an  end,  and  the  simple  chariots  at  the  gate 
to  escort  the  body  -to  the  pretty  green  covert  near  the 
maple-woods,  where  the  Marburys  slept  in  death — in 
their  own  acres,  as  was  the  honest  custom  in  the  country  in 
those  days.  Lady  Molly's  kindly  vigor  during  the  ordeal 
sustained  the  family,  who  somehow  conceived  a  less  poig 
nant  sense  of  loss  while  she  resolutely  held  the  household 
to  the  heart-breaking  routine  of  daily  duty,  eating,  drink 
ing,  and  sleeping.  Her  tact  and  faculty  helped  the  be 
reaved  to  endure  the  first  dreadful  days  of  vague  wonder 
and  insensible  expectation  of  the  Doctor's  coming  back. 
But  when  she  kissed  them  all  good-by,  even  Denny,  in 
hearty  affection,  the  humid  eyes  that  looked  after  the  kind 
soul  as  she  rode  down  the  lane  saw  only  the  vision  of  a 
saint,  and  cherished  in  their  hearts  for  many  a  day  the  de 
votion  of  this  genial  Samaritan.  Death's  sharpest  wrench 
is  when  it  strikes  unexpectedly.  There  was  not  a  soul  in 
the  house  that  did  not  tenderly  love  the  lost  friend  and 
master.  Love  was  the  law  of  his  life,  and  gentleness  its 
ministry.  He  was  the  father  of  the  fatherless,  the  refuge 
of  the  homeless,  and — he  was  dead  ! — and  dead  in  such  a 
cruel  form  that  murder  itself  would  have  seemed  less  dire. 
Dead !  while  those  that  loved  him  were  making  merry ; 
dying  !  while  their  mirth  was  perhaps  at  its  full  ;  dying  ! 
while  the  hearts  that  would  have  given  their  vital  drops 
to  save  him  pain  were  light  and  without  presentiment  of 
the  coming  woe. 

Strangers  came  in,  as  was  the  kindly  fashion  in  those 
days,  and  relieved  the  family  of  all  the  aching  offices  of 
the  dead.  Strangers  carried  on  the  harsh  realities  of  the 
household  life.  It  was  well  that  it  was  so,  for  Denny  and 
Norah  wandered  about  the  house  with  swollen  eyes  and 
dead  hearts.  Norah,  with  her  apron  over  her  face, 
crouched  beside  the  coffin,  haggard,  hollow-eyed,  and  de- 


NEW  MASTERS  AT  MARBURY.  2Ql 

mented.  When  the  last  of  him  was  taken  away,  it  was 
Aunt  Selina  who  comforted  these  two  Alien  adorers  of  her 
dead.  It  was  her  gentle  voice  that  reminded  them  that 
Death  had  dealt  them  a  cruel  blow,  for  the  homestead  that 
had  given  them  ease  and  shelter  was  no  longer  hers  to 
shield  them.  I  doubt  if,  when  the  cruel  time  came,  when 
the  farm  and  household  treasures  passed  to  the  prodigal 
son,  Byron,  they  felt  the  dim  terror  of  the  future  half  as 
keenly  as  the  blank  despair  of  the  death  they  had  wit 
nessed.  The  Doctor's  affairs  were  found  to  be  in  such  a 
state  as  generous  men  are  apt  to  leave  their  worldly  pos 
sessions.  He  had  literally  given  all  he  had  to  the  poor.  He 
had  in  many  cases  lent  money  on  worthless  securities,  and 
when  the  settlement  came  his  widow  was  not  only  penni 
less,  but  dependent  on  an  almost  alienated  son  for  a  home 
where  she  had  lived  thirty-five  years  as  a  mistress.  By 
ron,  her  eldest  born  and  only  remaining  child,  came  home, 
not  as  the  prodigal,  but  in  the  spirit  of  the  banished  heir 
who  had  been  held  out  of  his  own.  Denny  at  once  de 
clared  his  purpose  of  seeking  his  fortune,  and  making  a 
home  for  the  dear  mother  and  Norah ;  but  Mrs.  Marbury 
commanded  him  to  wait  and  see  how  Byron  and  his  wife 
meant  to  rule  their  kingdom.  Perhaps  things  might  go  on 
as  they  had  been,  and  the  household  need  not  be  scat 
tered. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

NEW    MASTERS   AT   MARBURY. 

THE  hapless  household,  its  dead  buried,  waited  supine 
for  the  next  vicissitude.  Aunt  Selina  feared  that  the  house 
would  no  longer  be  a  fit  home  for  Norah  when  her  son 


202  THE  ALIENS. 

Byron  fell  into  his  old,  dissolute  ways.  She  was  herself 
sorely  perplexed.  She  hated  to  quit  her  home,  but  she 
could  not  live  in  the  same  house  with  her  son's  wife — 
that  she  had  long  since  found  by  trial.  She  had  married 
Dr.  Marbury  in  the  East,  and  all  her  kinsfolk  were  there. 
She  might  find  a  refuge  for  Norah  with  them  if  she  could 
only  go  and  see  the  situation  of  things  for  herself.  But 
how  leave  Norah  ?  If  she  could  only  write,  and  have 
a  refuge  ready  for  Norah  before  Byron  took  possession, 
the  flight  wouldn't  be  so  marked.  In  the  eyes  of  the  law 
Byron  had  the  same  legal  claim  to  guardianship  that  Dr. 
Marbury  had  acquired  in  adopting  Norah.  For  Denny 
she  had  no  fear.  He  was  at  a  self-helping  age,  when 
vicissitudes  could  make  no  permanent  mark  in  his  charac 
ter. 

But,  wise  and  loyal  as  he  was,  he  could  not  be  in 
trusted  with  the  care  of  Norah.  Aunt  Selina  had  trem 
bled  in  fear  many  a  day.  Her  very  innocence  was  a  snare 
to  her.  Other  girls  of  Norah's  age  might  be  committed 
to  the  hazards  of  such  a  fate  as  confronted  the  homeless, 
without  much  fear  of  destruction,  but  Norah's  very  guile- 
lessness  would  invite  the  traps  of  the  ungentle.  Aunt  Se- 
lina's  only  resource  was  a  brother,  a  clergyman  in  Salem  ; 
but,  while  his  narrow  means  might  suffice  to  give  her  shel 
ter,  he  could  not  care  for  Norah.  He  wrote,  so  soon  as  the 
calamity  was  made  known  to  him,  for  the  widow  to  come 
on  and  share  his  home.  She  hesitated,  hoping  to  secure 
a  refuge  for  the  orphan.  It  was  finally  settled  that  Norah 
should  remain  in  the  homestead  until  the  future  revealed 
Byron's  disposition  and  his  wife's  treatment  of  the  aliens. 

A  few  days  after  Aunt  Selina's  departure,  Norah,  at 
work  in  the  dairy,  heard  a  horse  coming  up  the  lane. 
Looking  out  through  the  trellis,  she  caught  a  glimpse  of 
the  rider  through  the  lilac -bushes.  Her  heart  gave  a  great 


NEW  MASTERS  AT  MARBURY. 


203 


bound,  and  she  staggered  against  the  wall.  She  heard  a 
smart  tramp  on  the  flags  of  the  front  door  and  the  rever 
beration  of  the  brass  knocker.  There  was  no  one  in  the 
house,  and  she  hastened  to  answer.  Yes,  it  was  he — eager, 
bright,  handsome,  and,  though  not  so  gay,  still  with  a  smile 
on  his  charming  face. 

"  O  Mr.  Darcy  !  "  was  all  that  Norah  could  say,  and 
then  she  shrank  back  as  he  came  toward  her. 

"  Norah,  how  are  you  ?  I  shouldn't  have  known  you 
in  this  black  gown."  Then,  looking  into  the  room  and 
seeing  no  one,  he  whispered,  "  You  are  lovelier  in  it  than 
ever." 

"  Oh,  don't,  Mr.  Darcy,  don't.  It  wrongs  this  house 
to  bring  back  old  times  now.  It  breaks  my  heart  when  I 
think  of  the  evil  days  that  have  come — to  think  of  the 
dear  friends  that  have  gone." 

"  Friends,  Norah  ?  What  do  you  mean  ?  Where  is 
Aunt  Selina?" 

"  Don't  you  know  " — she  looked  at  him  with  dazed 
wonder — "  don't  you  know  that  we've  lost  the  Doctor  ? " 

"  Yes,  we  just  learned  on  our  return  from  the  East  that 
the  Doctor  was  dead,  and  my  father  has  sent  me  to  invite 
Mrs.  Marbury  to  come  and  make  our  home  hers  until  she 
settles  on  her  future  plans.  Here's  a  letter  for  her." 

"  She  isn't  here.  She's  gone  home  to  her  brother's  in 
Salem,  far,  far  in  the  East  by  the  ocean." 

"  Gone  !  "  cried  Darcy,  sinking  into  the  rocker  that  he 
had  so  often  seen  the  good  lady  nodding  in  of  an  after 
noon,  while  Norah  tripped  in  and  out  of  the  pantry.  Then 
he  looked  at  the  slender,  graceful  figure  leaning  at  the 
door-post,  clad  in  some  black  stuff,  but  which  on  her 
seemed  to  him  gracious  as  the  finest  silk  of  Antwerp. 
"  Gone  !  "  he  echoed  again  ;  "  and  you,  Norah  ?  Why  are 
you  here  ?  " 


204  THE  ALIENS. 

"  I'm  keeping  house  until  Amelia  and  Byron  come  from 
Bucephalo." 

"  And  Denis,  where  is  he  ?  " 

"  He's  at  Ritter's  this  week,  but  comes  down  every 
night." 

"  And  when  Byron's  family  comes,  what  are  you  going 
to  do?" 

"Aunt  Selina  is  looking  out  for  something  for  me  at 
Salem,  in  case  we  don't  want  to  remain  with  Byron." 

"  Something  ?     What  do  you  mean  by  something  ? " 

"A  place  to  earn  my  bread." 

"  By  George  !  Norah,  you  don't  mean  to  say  that  they 
are  going  to  let  you  turn  servant  ?" 

"  That's  all  I  ever  was,"  she  said,  looking  at  him  with 
large,  gentle  eyes,  in  which  wonder  and  surprise  struggled. 

"But  you  were  not  a  servant  here.  You  were  the 
adopted  daughter  of  the  Marburys.  You  ate  at  their 
table,  and — and — "  But  here  Darcy  found  himself  puz 
zled  to  define  the  elements  that  constituted  non-servitude. 
Then,  as  if  the  effort  plagued  him,  he  said,  almost  impa 
tiently,  "  Do  sit  down,  Norah  ;  it  makes  me  miserable  to 
see  you  standing  there.  If  it  were  anybody  else,  you  would 
seem  woe-begone ;  but  you  are  so  beautiful  that  you  would 
be  a  vision  if  you  were  swathed  in  sackcloth." 

She  listened  to  him  as  if  she  didn't  hear.  He  arose 
and  walked  about  the  room,  examining  the  old  mirror  with 
its  band  of  faded  gold  across  the  top,  opened  the  tall  clock 
in  the  vestibule  and  set  the  long  pendulum  in  motion,  ex 
amined  the  Doctor's  books  ranged  on  the  shelves  in  the 
alcove,  and  then,  as  Norah  remained  immovable,  following 
him  with  unquestioning  glances,  he  came  over  to  her  and 
took  her  hands  in  his  own.  She  made  no  resistance. 

"  Norah,  did  you  think  I'd  never  come  back  ?  " 

She  started  and  trembled  ;  a  great  crimson  tide  surged 


NEW  MASTERS  AT  MARBURY.  20$ 

over  her  neck  and  face  ;  her  eyes  fell  under  his  ardent 
glance. 

"Yes,  I  knew  you'd  come  back,"  she  said,  and  then 
drew  her  hands  gently  from  his  caressing  fingers. 

"Then  you're  glad  I've  come  back  ?  Oh,  my  darling, 
you're  glad  I'm  here  ? " 

"O  Mr.  Darcy!  don't,  don't.  It's  the  house  of  the 
dead,  and  I  daren't  think  of  the  old  times  now.  Give 
me  time.  Wait  till  the  good  Doctor  is  covered  by  the 
lilies ;  wait  till  the  live-forever  blooms  on  his  grave.  O 
Mr.  Darcy  !  I'd  never  have  luck  if  I  let  me  heart  be 
light,  or  joy  come  in  it,  while  the  sod  is  red  on  his  coffin." 

He  sank  back  in  the  chair.  The  hand  of  the  dead 
still  protected  the  helpless.  He  shuddered  at  himself. 
He  could  have  welcomed  hyssop  as  a  less  bitter  draught 
than  the  cup  this  unsuspecting  child  held  serenely  to  his 
lips.  He  had  one  moment  of  vague  self-recognition.  He 
saw  dimly  the  hideous  gulf  he  had  for  two  years  closed  his 
eyes  to,  and  he  saw  himself  held  back  by  the  hand  of  the 
dead.  He  gave  Norah  the  letter  for  Mrs.  Marbury,  and  rode 
away,  hardly  bidding  her  good-by.  And  with  him  went 
sunshine  and  hope  from  the  heart  of  the  girl.  She  stole 
back  with  dry  eyes  to  her  work  ;  and  when,  that  evening, 
Denny  saw  her  sadder  than  usual,  he  thought  it  the  brood 
ing  over  the  sorrows  of  the  past.  She  told  him  of  Darcy's 
coming,  but  there  was  no  hint  of  the  tender  relations  that 
made  the  visit  a  break  in  the  monotony  of  her  life. 

In  the  simple  conditions  of  the  time  of  which  I  am 
writing,  death,  it  seems  to  me,  was  a  more  desolating,  a 
more  serious  event  in  a  neighborhood  than  it  is  to-day. 
Though  most  of  the  farmers  of  the  four  townships  had 
seemed  to  Denny  to  be  present  when  the  good  Doctor's 
body  was  carried  out  under  the  great  elm,  and  buried  in 
the  family  acre,  far  back  in  the  meadow,  solemn  embassies 


206  THE  ALIENS. 

kept  coming  to  condole  with  the  widow  and  scrutinize  the 
darkened  parlors  into  which  Norah  was  instructed  to 
usher  them.  Denny's  sense  of  the  ludicrous  struggled 
with  his  misery,  as  the  artless  envoys  of  curiosity  ranged 
themselves  in  the  stiff  chairs,  the  hands  of  the  women 
covered  with  streaky  "mitts,"  the  men  uncomfortable  in 
shining  doeskin  and  stiff,  shapeless  bootwear.  Their  ex 
pressions  of  sympathy  for  the  solace  of  the  bereaved 
widow  were  a  puzzling  reflex  of  the  orthodox,  though 
ghostly,  comforting  of  the  meeting-house,  rather  than  the 
spontaneous  expression  of  individual  feeling.  The  trial 
had  become  too  much  for  the  gentle  spirit  of  Aunt  Selina 
long  before  she  set  out  for  Salem.  She  gave  up  the  at 
tempt  to  meet  the  emissaries,  and  the  entertainment  of 
them  fell  upon  Denny  and  Norah,  who  were  asked  such 
questions  as  made  even  Aunt  Selina's  patient  spirit  revolt 
when  she  was  told  of  them. 

But  there  came  an  end  to  this.  There  was  a  new  head 
to  the  Marbury  household.  Byron  Marbury,  the  Doctor's 
son,  presently  came  with  his  wife  and  boy,  and  were  in 
stalled  in  the  old  mansion.  Byron  had  never  since  his 
early  boyhood  lived  in  accord  with  his  father.  He  had 
wasted  his  opportunities  at  the  township  school,  and  ran 
riot  when  sent  to  the  city  academy.  At  nineteen,  en 
amored  of  the  sea,  he  had  disappeared  and  shipped  before 
the  mast.  At  twenty-five  he  returned,  resumed  his  place 
in  the  household,  but  led  an  irregular  life,  and  was  a  sore 
trial  to  father  and  mother.  In  a  tipsy  frolic  he  had  mar 
ried  the  daughter  of  the  neighborhood  neer-do-weel,  a 
carousing  Jack-of-all-trades,  who  let  his  paternal  acres 
melt  away,  from  year  to  year,  to  pay  his  debts. 

I  think  every  country  neighborhood  has  one  such 
family,  the  object  of  the  community's  wonder  and  scorn. 
Amelia  Crane  brought  none  of  the  civilizing  influences  of 


NEW  MASTERS  AT  MARBURY. 


207 


woman  to  the  reprobate  Byron.  She  was  a  sharp-featured, 
energetic,  shrill-toned  little  virago,  and  she  signalized  her 
first  appearance  in  her  husband's  household  by  angry 
resentment  of  Aunt  Selina's  efforts  to  reclaim  her  son 
from  his  excesses.  The  attempt  to  domesticate  the  couple 
proved  a  heart-breaking  failure.  The  Doctor  had  fitted 
up,  with  such  simple  adornment  as  seemed  luxury  in  those 
days,  the  east  wing  of  the  old  mansion,  and  set  it  apart  for 
the  pair.  Byron  was  to  help  work  the  farm,  and  the 
two  households  were  virtually  independent.  But  Amelia 
could  not  endure  the  isolation  of  her  own  apartments. 

She  passed  most  of  the  time  in  Aunt  Selina's  sitting- 
room,  fretfully  complaining  of  Byron's  shiftlessness,  for  the 
young  man  spent  much  of  his  time  in  the  Marbury  tavern. 
He  was  fond  of  hunting  and  fishing,  and  was  forever  com 
manding  Denny's  time  and  skill  in  preparing  for  these 
diversions.  His  work  on  the  farm  was  neglected,  and  in 
time  the  Doctor  relinquished  all  hope  of  reclaiming  the 
reprobate.  After  the  birth  of  Byron's  first  boy,  Amelia 
became  sour  and  more  exacting  than  ever.  She  hated 
poor  Norah,  chiefly  because  Aunt  Selina  was  fond  of  her 
and  the  motherless  girl  seemed  to  be  the  daughter  of  the 
house.  Denny,  too,  she  could  not  endure,  and  never 
vouchsafed  to  give  him  any  other  title  than  "  Irish  "  or 
"  Paddy."  The  aliens,  to  spare  Aunt  Selina's  and  the 
Doctor's  feelings,  concealed  the  more  brutal  evidences  of 
Amelia's  hostilities ;  enduring  such  passionate  outbursts  of 
temper  as  only  the  capricious  hate  of  a  termagant  can  ex 
hibit. 

The  years  of  the  couple's  stay  in  the  house  were  a 
heavy  trial  to  the  boy  and  girl.  One  day  Byron,  who  was 
not  unkind,  discovered  that  Norah  was  a  "devilish  pretty 
little  Paddy,"  and  carelessly  said  it  before  his  wife.  After 
that  the  poor  child  was  unbearably  odious  to  the  exasper- 


208  THE  ALIENS. 

ated,  energetically  alert  shrew.  She  watched  the  girl 
furtively,  and  began  to  drop  insidious  whispers  into  Aunt 
Selina's  ears.  Finally,  one  day,  Byron,  returning  from  the 
tavern  half  tipsy,  encountered  Norah  at  the  well.  He 
came  upon  her  suddenly,  seized  her  by  the  waist  and 
kissed  her,  then  rushed  into  the  house  laughing  at  the 
joke.  The  wife  at  her  window  had  seen  the  incident. 
She  fled  to  Aunt  Selina,  tears  of  rage  in  her  snapping 
black  eyes,  and  broke  out : 

"  Now,  mother-in-law,  I  ain't  going  to  stand  that  Irish 
hussy  any  longer.  If  she  don't  get  out  of  this  house,  I'm 
going — and  I'm  a-going  right  away  too  !  " 

"  Why,  Amelia,  what  has  Norah  done  ? "  asked  the 
elder  lady,  in  agitation. 

"What  has  she  done?  The  brazen  trull!  What 
hasn't  she  done?  Ever  since  I've  been  in  this  house 
she's  acted  more  like  the  daughter  than  I  have.  She's 
been  setting  her  cap  for  Byron,  and  she's  just  kissed  him, 
there  at  the  well,  before  my  eyes.  Ef  that  ain't  enough  to 
show  you  what  she  is,  I  don't  mean  to  take  any  more 
trouble  to  learn  you.  She  must  leave  this  house  this  day, 
or  I  will ;  so  there  !  " 

With  this,  the  outraged  Amelia  flung  herself  from  the 
room,  and  in  an  instant  Aunt  Selina  heard  her  shrill  voice 
reproaching  Byron.  That  good-natured  culprit  broke  into 
peals  of  maudlin  laughter,  and  then  the  wife's  protests  fell 
into  tearful  snatches  of  mingled  fury  and  complaining. 
Norah,  terrified  and  miserable,  had  hurried  to  the  dairy, 
where  she  sat  sobbing  when  Aunt  Selina  went  to  her  a 
few  minutes  afterward.  The  windows  were  open,  and  she 
had  heard  the  virago's  monstrous  calumny.  It  was  not 
the  first  time  she  had  hinted  her  jealousy  to  Norah,  but 
she  had  never  before  broached  it  to  the  mother. 

"  My  poor  child,"  Aunt  Selina  said  soothingly,  taking 


NEW  MASTERS  AT  MARBURY. 


209 


the  golden  head  on  her  breast  tenderly,  "  don't  fear  that  I 
can  be  made  to  believe  evil  of  you.  Bear  with  Amelia's 
temper.  She  is  very  unhappy,  because — because — she  has 
been  reared  in  the  wrong  way,  and  Byron  is  very  trying." 
Here  the  poor  mother  broke  down  and  the  two  women  sat 
rocking  in  quiet  grief.  Dr.  Marbury  appeared  in  the  door 
with  a  stern  light  in  his  kindly  eye. 

"Mother,"  he  said,  in  a  trembling  voice,  "you  see 
yourself  now  that  the  house  can  not  contain  two  families. 
I  saw  the  thing  that  has  just  happened.  It  won't  do  to 
have  Norah  subjected  to  such  trials.  Byron  means  no 
harm,  but  such  conduct  must  not  be  allowed  by  us." 

"O  father,  father  !"  Aunt  Selina  was  sobbing,  "what 
have  we  ever  done  that  this  affliction  should  come  to  us  ? 
Byron  was  the  kindest  and  best  of  children.  He — he — " 
Then  she  quite  broke  down. 

"  Byron  is  under  influences  that  we  can  not  counteract. 
It  is  best  that  he  should  be  in  a  house  of  his  own.  Amelia 
will  be  happier,  and  we  shall  be  happier.  As  it  is,  we  are 
in  constant  quarrels  and  disputes.  The  Elder  house  is 
empty.  It  is  just  far  enough  away  to  divide  without  separ 
ating  us  from  them.  It  will  make  a  comfortable  home,  and 
they  must  go  to  it.  You  and  I  are  too  old  to  keep  up  the 
sort  of  life  we've  been  enduring.  It  is  much  better  that 
Byron  should  be  in  a  home  of  his  own." 

"  Well,  ef  Byron  isn't  in  his  own  home,  I'd  like  to  know 
who  is  !  "  Amelia  stood  in  the  doorway,  her  eyes  flaming 
as  she  marked  the  attitude  of  Aunt  Selina  and  Norah. 
"  Ef  we  are  to  be  kicked  out  for  that  Irish  trollop,  I  want 
to  know  it.  I  guess  we've  got  some  rights  in  this  place, 
and  we'll  see  ef  the  law  can't  give  them  to  us.  Oh,  I 
know  very  well  that  you  always  turned  up  your  nose  at 
my  family,  and  just  bore  me  here  because  you  thought 
you'd  have  more  hold  on  Byron.  You've  set  him  against 


210  THE  ALIENS. 

me  fast  enough,  I  can  see  that ;  and  now  you  want  to  en 
courage  him  to  make  up  to  that  brazen  hussy.  I  won't 
stand  it.  I  will  go  to  my  father.  I  guess  the  Cranes  are 
as  good  as  the  Marburys,  ef  they  don't  pretend  so  much." 

By  this  time  the  angry  voice  had  grown  loud  and  shrill, 
the  fierce  denunciation  mingling  with  little  hysteric  gasps. 
The  sound  of  the  voice  pierced  the  air  like  the  sudden 
burst  of  a  steam-whistle.  Byron  heard  the  outbreak  in 
the  house,  and  came  staggering  down  to  the  dairy. 

"  Yes,  it's  time  to  come.  You're  going  to  be  turned 
out.  This  house  is  no  home  for  you  or  yours  so  long  as 
this  Irish  shirk  is  here.  They  think  more  of  her  than 
they  do  of  you." 

"  What's  the  matter,  eh  ?     What's  the  matter  ? " 

Byron  looked  in  drunken  dismay  at  the  excited  woman, 
sobbing,  and  rubbing  her  eyes  with  the  end  of  her  green 
gingham  apron. 

"  Matter  ?  Why,  the  matter  is  that  I  won't  stay  in  this 
house  another  day  to  be  insulted  by  your  family.  They 
take  the  part  of  this  scheming  beggar  against  you  and  me; 
they  say  we  must  get  out.  That's  what's  the  matter." 

"  Amelia  !  "  Doctor  Marbury  turned  and  came  out  of 
the  dairy.  "  This  is  not  the  way  to  talk  to  us  nor  of  us. 
You  are  not  in  the  right  frame  of  mind  to  listen  to  me 
now.  We  will  talk  the  matter  over  some  other  time,  and 
I'm  sure  you  will  see  that  what  I  propose  is  for  the  best. 
You  and  Byron  are  our  children.  We  love  you,  and  you 
must  let  us  be  the  judges  of  the  way  we  think  best  to  show 
our  love  for  you.  Byron,  come  with  me  !  " 

"  Byron  sha'n't  do  any  such  thing.  Whatever  con 
cerns  him  concerns  me.  I  ain't  going  to  have  you  talking 
to  him  and  setting  him  against  his  wife  and  baby.  O 
Byron,  Byron  !  was  it  for  this  I  gave  up  Pliny  Hart  ?  He 
was  rich,  and  would  have  given  me  a  real  home  right 


NEW  MASTERS  AT  MARBURY.  21 1 

away.  Oh,  why — why  did  I  listen  to  you — why — when 
father  wanted  me  to  marry  Pliny  ?  " 

"  Go  to  the  devil,  and  take  Pliny  with  you  too,  you  fool ! 
I — I — "  But  Doctor  Marbury  laid  his  hand  on  his  son's 
arm,  and  with  a  wild  shriek  of  baffled  rage  Amelia  scudded 
into  the  house,  and  presently  could  be  heard  monologuing 
with  baby,  into  whose  astonished  ears  she  was  pouring  a 
lurid  tale  of  her  griefs,  not  the  least  of  which  seemed  to  be 
that  Pliny  Hart  was  not  baby's  papa,  "instead  of  the 
shiftless,  good-for-nothing  Byron  Marbury  !  " 

Father  and  son  walked  down  the  orchard-path  toward 
the  fields,  away  from  the  barn-yard,  where  the  cows 
browsed  of  an  evening,  after  they  were  milked.  Byron 
made  pretext  of  interest  in  his  big  Newfoundland,  Sailor, 
that  gamboled  in  unwieldy  sportiveness  by  his  side,  emit 
ting  stertorous  yelps  as  his  master  incited  him  to  livelier 
pranks.  The  talk  between  father  and  son  was  watched  by 
the  wife,  but  what  was  said  between  them  no  one  ever 
knew. 

A  few  days  later,  Byron,  whose  tastes  were  nomadic, 
received  a  sum  of  money  from  the  Doctor's  savings,  and 
bought  a  half  interest  in  one  of  the  packets  running  be 
tween  Warchester  and  Bucephalo.  Amelia  refused  to  be 
placated.  She  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  of  Aunt  Selina's 
proffers  in  packing,  and,  when  her  effects  were  all  laden  in 
the  great  hay-wagon,  she  tripped  out  of  the  house  turning 
her  head  aside,  to  avoid  the  kiss  of  reconciliation  her  hus 
band's  mother  proffered.  She  declared  that  she  would 
never  put  her  foot  inside  the  Marbury  doors  so  long  as 
Irish  beggars  were  treated  better  than  her  husband's  flesh 
and  blood.  This  all  happened  soon  after  Denny's  coming 
to  Marbury.  The  exodus  seemed  to  make  the  orphans 
dearer  to  the  old  couple,  and  Denny  became  really  a  son  to 
the  kind  old  Doctor,  while  Norah  was  the  comfort  of 


212  THE  ^ALIENS. 

Aunt  Selina's  lonely  old  age.  Once  a  fortnight,  when  the 
packet  was  due  at  Warchester,  the  Doctor  drove  to  the  city 
with  kind  messages  and  substantial  testimonies  of  the  pa 
rental  love  for  the  wayward  children.  But  Amelia  was  ob 
durate.  She  refused  to  visit  the  house,  and  received  the 
largess  as  no  more  than  her  due.  Byron  came  home  occa 
sionally  with  his  father,  but  the  tranquil  hearth  was  uncon 
genial  to  him.  He  liked  the  boisterous  life  of  the  canal. 

He  was  captain  of  the  boat,  and  became  known  all 
along  the  line  as  a  merry,  riotous,  kindly  spirit,  likely  to 
be  his  own  ruin.  For  a  time  he  prospered  in  his  calling, 
which  in  those  days  was  not  regarded  as  it  came  to  be 
afterward.  Citizens  of  the  first  dignity  in  Warchester  were 
packet-captains,  and  later  in  life  rose  to  high  civic  and 
social  state.  But  his  easy  nature  and  facile  disposition 
soon  brought  Byron  to  ruin.  He  mortgaged  his  boat, 
drew  on  his  father  heavily,  and  shortly  before  the  Doctor's 
death  the  venture  came  to  a  sudden  collapse.  Byron  in 
a  tipsy  debauch  staked  his  interest  on  a  game  of  cards, 
and  lost.  Amelia  went  home,  to  "  Father  Crane's,"  as  she 
called  her  home,  and  Byron  skulked  about  Bucephalo, 
ashamed  to  show  himself  at  home. 

With  the  Doctor's  death  the  conditions  were  again 
changed.  Byron  inherited  everything,  his  mother  possess 
ing  only  the  right  of  dower  in  the  homestead.  The  hus 
band  and  wife  returned  a  fortnight  after  the  funeral  was 
over,  and  Amelia  assumed  the  place  of  mistress.  Aunt 
Selina,  who  had  returned  from  Salem  disappointed,  wel 
comed  her  with  sad  forebodings.  At  first  nothing  was 
said  about  Denny  and  Norah,  but  the  virago  soon  made  it 
plain  that  the  Aliens  would  find  their  lines  unendurable. 

Norah  felt  the  first  effects  of  the  new  regime.  She  was, 
under  one  pretext  and  another,  withheld  from  the  coveted 
Sunday  gathering  in  the  school-house.  Her  pretty  gowns, 


NEW  MASTERS  AT  MARBURY.  213 

which  Aunt  Selina  fashioned  with  her  own  hands, 
were  denied  her ;  that  is  to  say,  when  she  needed  a  new 
gown,  Amelia  caused  the  poorest  and  coarsest  stuff  to  be 
bought,  and  made  up  the  material  herself  in  the  clumsiest 
and  most  unbecoming  mode.  So  far  as  it  was  possible  the 
brother  and  sister  were  denied  their  long  walks  and  wild- 
wood  saunterings.  At  night  they  were  refused  the  poor 
tallow-dips,  with  which,  as  the  evenings  grew  longer,  the 
boy  and  girl  were  used  to  illuminate  Norah 's  pretty  cham 
ber  while  they  dreamed  aloud  and  speculated  on  the 
wonderful  future  when  Denny  was  to  be  a  great  lawyer 
like  his  uncle,  whose  picture,  in  his  wig  and  gown,  Norah 
had  rescued  from  the  wreck  of  her  mother's  treasures. 
Denny,  too,  came  in  for  his  share  in  the  Draconian  system 
that  ruled  the  old  home.  He  was  no  longer  suffered  to 
read  in  moments  of  leisure.  Dr.  Marbury's  books  were 
all  sent  off  one  day  to  the  city  to  be  sold,  Amelia  answer 
ing  Aunt  Selina's  agitated  questions  by  the  remark  : 

"  What  earthly  use  is  that  truck  here  ?  It  only  gath 
ers  moths,  and  gives  that  lazy  Irishman  a  chance  to  waste 
his  time  while  he  ought  to  be  paying  us  for  his  living  by 
work  ! " 

Denny  passed  many  a  day  in  bitterness  and  pain  when 
these  old  friends  were  gone.  The  tears  welled  up  in  his 
eyes  as  he  rehearsed  his  loss  to  Norah.  Even  his  "  Rob 
inson  Crusoe,"  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  and  "  Plutarch,"  given 
him  by  the  Doctor,  were  sent  away  with  the  rest. 

"  It's  time  you  should  learn  your  place,  young  man. 
You're  old  enough  to  do  a  man's  work.  You  eat  as  much 
as  a  man,  and  we  can't  have  any  drones  in  this  house  !  " 
Amelia  said  to  the  lad  when  he  told  her  that  many  of  the 
books  were  his  own.  "  There's  plenty  for  you  to  do  of  an 
evening.  My  brothers  always  made  themselves  of  use  in 
the  house  as  well  as  out.  There  are  apples  to  pare  and 


214  THE  ALIENS. 

cut  for  drying.  The  garret  is  full  of  rags  that  need  cut 
ting  and  sewing  to  get  ready  for  the  carpet-weavers.  You 
can  do  that  work  very  well,  and  help  pay  for  the  schooling 
we've  given  you." 

The  energetic  little  tyrant  was  as  good  as  her  word. 
Denny,  so  soon  as  the  evening  "  chores  "  were  done,  was 
put  to  paring  apples  until  late  in  the  fall.  Then  came  the 
carpet-rags,  Denny  sitting  gravely  on  the  floor  tearing 
stuff  into  long  shreds  and  then  sewing  them  together. 
These  in  turn  were  made  into  balls,  and,  when  enough 
were  heaped  on  the  attic  floor,  they  were  sent  to  the  city 
to  be  woven  into  the  many-colored  fabrics  known  as  rag- 
carpets.  Amelia  was  a  good  housekeeper.  Not  a  crumb 
was  permitted  to  fall  astray.  The  children  were  aston 
ished  at  the  exactness  of  the  household  calculations — an 
exactness  that  would  have  sent  them  both  to  bed  hungry 
many  a  night  if  in  summer  Denny  hadn't  laid  in  stores  of 
fruit  and  in  winter  nuts,  and  Aunt  Selina,  also,  had  not 
secreted  "  cookies  "  and  "  doughnuts."  Amelia  didn't 
mean  to  starve  them.  She  was  merely  frugal,  and  made 
no  allowance  for  the  difference  in  appetite  between  age 
and  growing  youth.  She  was  herself  content  with  a  bowl 
of  Indian  meal  and  milk  for  supper ;  why  shouldn't  the  rest 
be? 

The  horror  of  the  household  ministry  soon  haunted 
Denny  like  a  familiar  phantom.  He  loathed  the  unchang 
ing  diet.  Breakfast  was  a  tolerable  meal.  Tea  and  coffee, 
since  Amelia's  arrival,  had  been  denied  the  dependents, 
but  milk  was  plenty,  save  in  winter,  when  their  mugs  were 
filled  with  the  skimmed  remains  of  the  day  before.  There 
were  always  fried  pork  cut  very  thin,  potatoes,  good  bread 
dealt  out  very  sparingly,  and  though  fruit  was  abundant 
it  was  never  seen  on  Amelia's  table.  Everything  was  sent 
to  market.  An  egg  or  chicken  was  a  rarity,  where  before 


NEW  MASTERS  AT  MARBURY.  215 

both  were  always  abundant.  Amelia  declared  that  such 
gluttony  was  sinful,  and  every  staple  that  could  find  a 
market  in  Warchester  was  carefully  guarded,  and  packed 
on  Saturday  to  be  sold.  The  resolute  little  manager 
directed  all  this  herself  ;  she  held  Byron  to  his  work,  by 
constant  reminders  of  his  luckless  packet  speculation, 
and  doled  out  money  to  him  with  a  niggard  hand. 

Now  and  then  he  broke  loose  and  re-asserted  his  old 
humors.  For  days  he  secluded  himself  in  the  Ritter  tav 
ern,  drinking  and  gaming  with  any  reprobate  at  hand,  and, 
when  the  fit  had  passed,  returned  tranquilly  to  his  hus 
bandry.  Amelia  never  reproached  him  at  the  end  of  such 
escapades,  but  Denny  dreaded  them,  for  he  was  made  to 
endure  the  pent-up  wrath  that  would  have  been  futilely 
spent  upon  the  jovial  profligate.  The  present  was  hard 
enough  for  Denny  to  bear ;  but,  as  he  reflected  over  the 
new  miseries  that  were  come  upon  him,  he  saw  the  future 
more  bleak,  empty,  and  unlovely.  If  it  were  not  for 
Norah,  he  would  have  fled  from  the  hateful  bonds.  But 
she  was  helpless.  She  needed  him.  Once  she  would  have 
been  struck,  in  an  outbreak  of  Amelia's  wrath,  if  Aunt 
Selina  had  not  intervened.  How  could  he  fly  and  leave 
her  subject  to  such  cruelty  and  iniquity  ?  His  heart  was 
sore,  and  his  spirit  quite  crushed.  He  could  see  no  escape 
from  the  toils.  Every  day  seemed  to  make  his  bondage 
more  fixed  and  more  unendurable.  The  birds  and  brooks 
seemed  to  sound  in  his  ears  in  sadder  strains.  The  woods 
were  melancholy  and  strange  to  him  now,  when  at  rare 
intervals  he  found  a  stolen  moment  to  revisit  his  sylvan 
haunts. 

Dilly,  too  :  she  had  gone  to  the  city,  and  was  still 
at  the  seminary.  He  saw  her  only  rarely,  as  she  drove 
past  on  her  way  to  or  from  the  school.  The  few  joys  that 

came  into  the  lives  of  Denny  and  Norah  were  when,  once 
10 


2l6  THE  ALIENS. 

in  a  great  while,  Amelia  with  the  little  Byron  drove  off  to 
pass  the  day  with  Father  Crane.  Then  Aunt  Selina 
seemed  to  grow  young  again,  and  the  three  rioted  in  a  re 
newal  of  the  pleasures  of  the  past.  The  kind  lady  had, 
on  a  visit  to  the  city,  replaced  the  "Plutarch"  and  the 
"Arabian  Nights,"  and  these,  guiltily  secreted  in  the  gar 
ret,  were  brought  down  and  the  dear  old  tales  retold,  the 
three  laughing  and  wondering  over  the  magic,  miracle,  and 
heroism  that  have  filled  so  many  millions  with  joy  and 
hope  and  resolution.  I  fear  that  the  good-natured  Byron 
was  privy  to  these  conspiracies,  for  once,  on  going  sud 
denly  to  the  vestibule,  Denny  discovered  the  big  husband 
man  leaning  under  the  window,  his  eyes  moist  and  kindling 
kindly,  as  if  he,  too,  had  the  heart  that  helps  the  brain 
comprehend  the  things  that  are  ennobling,  inspiring,  and 
softening  in  the  deeds  that  men  have  done  and  dared  and 
suffered,  in  reality  as  well  as  romance.  He  made  a  sign 
of  amity  and  discretion  to  the  dismayed  culprit,  and  stalked 
away,  laughing  softly  to  himself. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE   TELL-TALE   TREASURE. 

IN  youth  sorrow  is  not  long  crowned  by  the  remem 
brance  of  happier  things.  As  time  went  on,  the  boy  and 
girl  made  little  of  their  burdens  and  much  of  such  simple 
joys  as  were  left  them.  Youth  has  a  prodigious  recupera 
tive  force.  Imagination  strips  the  harshest  realities  of  their 
woes,  and  in  time  Norah's  song  and  Denny's  gayety  re 
sumed  their  old  tone.  Amelia,  with  the  keen  sagacity  of 
the  sordid  shrew,  soon  discovered  that  as  "  help  "  the  pair 


THE   TELL-TALE   TREASURE. 

were  a  fortune  in  the  house,  and,  though  the  discovery 
brought  about  no  amelioration  in  her  treatment,  it  lessened 
the  persistency  of  her  brutality  to  them.  She  had  at  first 
insisted  that  Norah  should  quit  the  house,  but  Byron, 
though  yielding  and  placable  in  everything  else,  came  to 
his  mother's  rescue,  and  declared  that  the  Doctor's  bequest 
of  a  home  to  the  children  should  be  obeyed.  Byron  rarely 
had  his  "  say,"  as  he  reminded  the  indomitable  little  chief, 
but,  "when  he  did  speak,  he  meant  it."  She  made  no 
further  attempt  to  carry  out  her  purpose,  and  apparently 
the  girl's  singular  deftness  in  the  household  work  recon 
ciled  the  termagant  to  the  fiat.  But,  under  such  conditions, 
it  was  easy  to  foresee  that  the  catastrophe  was  only  post 
poned.  One  evening  Byron,  who  had  been  to  the  city, 
returned  to  tea  in  a  tipsy,  frolicsome  humor.  The  little 
woman  at  the  head  of  the  table  pursed  her  thin  lips,  and 
vented  her  virulence  upon  Norah  whenever  occasion  pre 
sented  itself.  After  a  more  cutting  reprimand  than  usual, 
the  poor  girl  fled  from  the  table  in  a  convulsion  of  terror 
and  tears. 

"  Hey,  hey,  wat's  this  ?  Eh,  Norah  ?  Wat's  matter  ? 
Toothache  ?  Hey,  my  girl,  come  back  here  and  finish  yer 
supper." 

"  Just  you  never  mind  her  ;  she  don't  need  any  supper. 
It'll  do  her  good  to  fast  a  little  while,"  Amelia  said,  with 
asperity. 

"  But,  I  say,  by  God,  she  shall  have  her  supper  !  "  and 
Byron,  not  quite  sobered,  hurried  after  the  fugitive.  Norah 
had  fled  to  the  dairy,  where  she  sat  sobbing  when  Byron 
appeared. 

"  Come,  Norah,  girl,  never  mind  Mele ;  she  don't 
mean  anything.  She's  a  darned  fool.  Just  come  right  in 
and  eat  your  supper." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  Byron,  I  don't  care  for  anything  to 


2l8  THE  ALIENS. 

eat.  Please  go  back,  and  let  me  go  to  my  work.  Indeed, 
indeed,  I'm  not  hungry  !  " 

"  But  I  say  you  shall  come  to  the  table.  I  won't  have 
you  treated  so.  I  guess  I'll  show  who  is  master  in  this 
house.  If  Mele  don't  like  it  she  can  lump  it.  Let  her  go 
to  old  Crane  ;  he'll  soon  be  glad  enough  to  get  rid  of  her. 
Norah  " — he  came  quite  close  to  the  trembling  girl,  and 
put  his  arm  around  her  waist — "  Norah,  I  love  you  a  thou 
sand  times  more  than  I  ever  loved  that  sour-tempered 
screw  ;  love  her,  ha  !  "  and  he  laughed  a  mocking,  bitter 
laugh  that  seemed  to  sober  him ;  and  then,  by  a  mighty 
wrench,  pressed  the  struggling  girl  to  his  breast,  burning 
her  averted  face  with  his  hot  breath.  "  I  love  you,"  he 
panted  ;  "  you  shall  be  mistress  here.  I  swear  it,  by 
God,  I—" 

"  O  Byron — Mr.  Marbury !  in  the  name  of  your  dead 
father,  in  the  name  of  God,  don't — don't  say  such  dreadful 
things.  Don't  murder  me  by  such  doings.  I  shall  die  of 
shame.  O  my  God  !  be  merciful  to  me.  Be  your  father's 
son !  What  would  your  mother — what  would  Amelia  say  ? 
She  is  cruel  to  me,  but  I  deserve  it.  Ah,  yes,  I  deserve 
it,  or  you  never  would  drag  me  in  the  dust  of  shame  as 
you  do  by  this  cruel  and  wicked  conduct !  Oh,  spare  the 
motherless  and  fatherless — you  who  have  an  angel  for  the 
one  and  I  a  saint  in  heaven  for  the  other."  She  panted 
and  wrestled  herself  free,  and  stood  before  him  with  burn 
ing  face. 

"  I  tell  you,  Norah,  I  worship  you.  I  have  loved  you 
since  I  first  saw  you.  If  I  hadn't  loved  you  I  shouldn't 
be  the  good-for-nothing  fool  I've  been  for  five  years ;  I 
wouldn't  have  broken  my  father's  heart."  His  voice  was 
tremulous  now  with  passion  ;  his  mighty  arms  were  about 
her  again ;  with  one  fierce  wrench  he  pulled  the  slight 
form  to  him  and  planted  a  loathesome  kiss  on  her  lips. 


THE   TELL-TALE   TREASURE. 


219 


Norah  was  powerless  in  the  strong  arms,  but  with  a  loud 
shriek  she  struggled  desperately  to  free  herself.  A  swift 
step  was  heard  on  the  stone  flags,  and  Byron  relinquished 
her  as  Denny  appeared  in  the  doorway. 

"  What  is  it,  Norah  ? "  and  he  looked  resolute  and  de 
fiant.  "  What  is  it,  Norah  ?  Are  you  harmed  ?  Are  you 
in  fear  ?  Byron  Marbury,  what  have  you  done  to  my  sis 
ter  ?  Surely  you  are  a  man  and  would  scorn  to  persecute 
her  as — as —  "  He  stopped,  not  knowing,  in  his  agitation, 
what  to  say. 

"  No,  Denny,  Norah  hasn't  a  better  friend  in  the  world. 
I  was  only  telling  her  that  she  shall  suffer  no  more  in  this 
house  while  I'm  master  ;  and  you  may  depend  upon  my 
word." 

"  If  he  does,  he'll  be  the  only  person  in  this  township 
that  depends  on  it !  "  Amelia  stood  in  the  doorway  be 
hind  Denny,  sneering  and  calm.  "  So  this  is  the  way  you 
teach  my  servants  to  act  in  my  house,  is  it  ?  I  have  to 
work  and  scrape  to  keep  your  poor  shiftless  bones  from 
rotting  in  the  gutter,  and  you  are  not  contented  with 
robbing  me  of  my  earnings,  but  you  must  go  in  the  corners 
and  put  the  servants  up  to  make  little  of  me  !  Denis, 
you  go  about  your  business  and  finish  your  work ;  while 
as  for  you,  my  lady,  I'll  teach  you  a  lesson,  or  my  name 
isn't  Amelia  Ann  Crane  !  Come,  come  !  Get  out  of  here  and 
go  to  your  work  ;  I'll  give  you  something  to  whine  for  !  " 

She  pushed  resolutely  past  her  husband,  and,  taking 
firm  hold  of  Norah's  shoulder,  gave  her  a  vicious  push  to 
ward  the  door.  The  nails  cut  into  the  girl's  delicate  flesh, 
and  she  uttered  a  sharp  cry.  As  the  virago  lifted  her  arm 
to  repeat  the  push,  Byron  seized  it,  and  with  such  vigor 
that  she  screamed. 

"  You  she-devil,  if  you  ever  lay  a  hand  on  that  girl 
again  I'll  brain  you  !  " 


220  THE  ALIENS. 

His  face  was  livid  with  passion.  She  gave  one  look 
in  his  blood-shot  eye,  and  saw  that  he  was  in  deadly  ear 
nest.  Her  eye  quailed  under  this  ferocious  glare,  and 
without  a  word  she  bent  her  head  submissively  and  ran  up 
the  steps  shuddering,  as  she  had  never  in  her  life  shud 
dered  before,  for  she  saw  that  in  her  husband's  face  which 
warned  her  that  she  had  drawn  the  bow  too  far.  He 
came  with  heavy  step  and  muttered  words  into  the  pantry, 
where  she  had  fled  to  evade  him ;  he  pushed  the  closed 
door  back  as  though  it  had  been  paper,  though  her  whole 
weight  was  against  it.  He  forced  her  to  face  him  as  he 
said  slowly,  in  a  thick  rush  of  repressed  passion  : 

"  Now,  I've  got  just  this  to  say  to  you  :  For  ten  years 
I've  borne  your  deviltry  ;  I  may  not  be  a  good  husband — 
I  suppose  I'm  not.  But  bad  as  I  may  be,  it  is  not  in  your 
family  to  find  fault.  If  you  had  not  been  what  you  were, 
I  would  not  have  been  what  I  have  been.  You  entrapped 
me  into  marrying  you — or  your  mother  did  ;  I'm  not  com 
plaining  about  that.  It  was  my  own  free  work.  I  knew 
what  I  was  doing.  But  if  you  had  been  half  human  you 
could  have  made  the  man  of  me  that  my  father  meant 
I  should  be,  and  that  I  know  I  could  have  been.  You've 
been  a  clog  and  a  curse  to  me.  I've  sworn  a  dozen  times 
to  turn  over  a  new  leaf;  but,  whenever  I've  tried,  your 
cursed  tongue  and  temper  have  driven  me  to  the  whisky- 
bottle — yes,  your  cursed  tongue  and  temper.  What  you 
were  when  I  married  you,  you  know  very  well.  What 
you've  been  since,  I  know  only  too  well.  But  it's  got  to 
stop  now.  I  won't  have  my  mother  turning  and  twisting 
in  her  own  house  to  escape  you.  I  won't  have  these 
children  ill-treated,  that  my  father  loved  as  his  own, 
and  they  were  far  more  to  him,  God  forgive  me,  than  ever 
I  was  to  him,  though  until  I  knew  you  I  never  was  undu- 
tiful  to  him.  You  know  your  blood.  It's  damned  bad 


THE   TELL-TALE   TREASURE.  22 1 

blood.  Your  sister  Becky  drove  her  husband  to  the 
razor ;  but  though  you've  driven  me  to  the  whisky-bottle, 
you're  not  going  to  push  me  till  I  cut  my  throat.  No,  by 
God,  I'll  cut  yours  first !  I  think  that's  all  I  have  to  say, 
and  you  know  me  well  enough  to  know  that  I  don't  talk 
to  hear  myself  talk.  That  girl  and  boy  are  in  this  house 
to  stay,  just  as  long  as  they  please,  and  they  must  be 
treated  as  members  of  my  father's  family." 

He  opened  the  door,  encountered  his  mother's  terrified 
face,  stopped  an  instant,  stroked  her  hair,  bent  over  her, 
and  touched  his  lips  to  her  forehead,  and  then  stalked  out 
of  the  house. 

Norah,  standing  under  the  pantry  window,  had  heard 
every  word.  He  stopped  when  he  saw  her,  then  contin 
ued,  saying,  as  he  looked  over  his  shoulder  at  her  : 

"  I  meant  every  word  of  it,  and  she  knows  it." 

For  days  afterward  the  house  suffered  an  indescribable 
change.  Amelia  never  opened  her  lips  to  any  one.  When 
asked  about  the  household  affairs,  she  answered  in  mono 
syllables.  She  never  came  to  the  table,  but,  with  little 
Byron,  ate  in  the  pantry.  At  the  end  of  the  week  she 
took  the  boy  and  went  off  to  Father  Crane's.  Byron 
never  made  any  inquiry.  He  continued  the  common  rou 
tine,  was  rather  gayer  at  times,  and,  after  supper  of  an 
evening,  asked  Denny  to  read  from  his  "  Plutarch "  or 
"  Arabian  Nights."  In  the  fields  at  work  he  rehearsed  all 
the  incidents  narrated  the  evening  before,  asking  the  boy's 
judgment  on  the  various  events  and  the  valorous  deeds 
described.  He  softened  wonderfully  in  his  mother's  pres 
ence,  and  for  the  first  time  since  boyhood  left  her  at  night 
with  a  filial  kiss.  It  was  a  tranquil  time  to  all.  Denny, 
however,  was  surprised  at  Norah's  conduct.  She  never  sat 
in  the  large  room  of  an  evening,  as  it  had  been  her  delight 
to  do  when  he  read.  So  soon  as  the  evening  work  was 


222  THE  ALIENS. 

done,  she  hurried  to  her  own  room,  and  there  every  night 
he  found  her  with  her  sewing,  if  there  was  still  light  enough 
in  the  sky ;  gazing  dreamily  at  the  stars,  if  it  were  dark. 
She  parried  all  his  anxious  queries  as  to  the  cause  of  this 
sudden  change,  and  once,  when  he  became  impatient  at 
her  reticence,  she  burst  into  passionate  tears. 

At  the  end  of  a  fortnight  Amelia  came  back,  and  re 
sumed  her  functions  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  She 
declared  that  she  had  been  forced  off  to  Bucephalo  to  at 
tend  a  cousin's  wedding,  and  the  explanation  was  accepted 
without  a  question.  She  was  markedly  equable  with 
Norah  ;  never  scolded  her  in  the  old  fashion,  but  ac 
cepted  her  ministry  without  sign  or  token.  She  made 
much,  in  an  uneasy,  effusive  way,  of  Aunt  Selina,  and 
rarely  reminded  Denny  that  he  was  Irish.  Much  of  the 
sunshine  of  old  days  came  back  to  Denny — a  wintry  sort 
of  sunshine,  perhaps,  under  the  changed  temper  of  the 
martinet.  He  even  ventured  to  carry  his  beloved  books 
into  the  field  with  him,  and  turn  to  his  favorite  pages  when 
resting-spells  came.  Byron  himself  encouraged  these  sys 
tematic  outbreaks  of  the  boy's  tendency,  by  lolling  on  the 
ground,  his  face  covered  by  a  big  straw  hat,  and  listening 
alertly,  though  pretending  to  doze.  One  day  little  Byron, 
toddling  out  into  the  harvest-field  at  noon,  found  his  papa 
stretched  under  a  spreading  oak,  while  Denny  read  aloud. 
He,  too,  listened  to  the  tale,  and  that  evening  innocently 
prattled  of  it  on  his  father's  knee.  Amelia,  sewing  at  the 
window,  turned  to  Denny  and  asked  sharply : 

"  Where  did  you  get  them  books  ?  Stole  my  money  to 
buy  them,  I  suppose." 

"  It's  none  of  your  business  where  he  got  them,  and 
stealing  isn't  a  habit  in  the  Marbury  family." 

It  was  Byron  who  spoke,  and  his  tone  was  quite  easy 
and  affable.  Amelia  turned  scarlet,  for  the  shot  told.  One 


THE   TELL-TALE   TREASURE. 


223 


of  her  brothers  had  come  to  shame  before  the  whole  coun 
ty  in  a  theft  years  before.  She  got  up  and  left  the  room, 
and  the  rest  could  hear  her  sobbing  all  the  evening.  They 
didn't  understand  the  sting  in  Byron's  taunt,  and  were  at 
a  loss  to  account  for  the  unwonted  sensitiveness  of  the  in 
trepid  campaigner.  Norah's  curious  abstention  from  the 
large  sitting-room,  so  soon  as  her  work  was  done,  attracted 
Amelia's  suspicions.  She  began  to  observe  her  closely, 
but  could  not  comprehend  the  manceuver,  as  she  made  up 
her  mind  it  was.  On  one  pretext  and  another,  she  fol 
lowed  the  girl,  and  found  her  in  no  forbidden  employment. 

One  night,  however,  being  awakened  by  little  Byron  to 
ward  midnight,  she  was  startled,  on  going  to  the  pantry,  to 
see  a  gleaming  trail  of  light  reflected  on  the  lilacs,  and,  put 
ting  her  head  out  of  the  window,  she  saw  that  it  came  from 
Norah's  room.  What  could  Norah  be  doing  up  at  such 
an  hour  ?  When  Byron's  needs  had  been  satisfied,  Amelia, 
in  her  stocking  feet,  stole  softly  up  the  stairs,  through 
Denny's  room  to  Norah's  door,  and  listened.  She  could 
hear  her  moving  about,  and  once,  through  a  slit  in  the 
time-worn  panel,  she  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  figure  in  a 
silken  sort  of  fabric,  and  the  glitter  of  something  like 
jewels  in  her  ears.  Trembling  with  anger,  and  her  sus 
picions  at  once  alert,  Amelia  gently  tried  the  door. 

It  was  fastened.  For  a  moment  she  was  madly  minded 
to  force  the  girl  to  open  it,  but,  remembering  Byron's  anger, 
she  resolved  to  bide  her  time.  The  next  day  Byron  was 
going  to  the  city,  and  Denny  was  in  the  fields.  So  soon 
as  Norah  was  well  at  work  in  the  dairy,  Amelia  went  up 
to  the  girl's  room,  fastened  Denny's  door  to  secure  herself 
from  interruption,  and  began  an  examination  of  Norah's 
belongings.  It  was  not  the  first  time  she  had  pried  into 
the  poor  girl's  treasures,  but  hitherto  she  had  passed  the 
little  hair-covered  box  in  the  closet  without  scrutiny. 


224  THE  ALIENS. 

Now  she  dragged  it  from  its  quasi  concealment,  confident 
that  the  mystery  of  the  night  before  was  concealed  in  it. 
It  was  fastened  with  a  hasp,  and  the  key  was  not  to  be 
found  in  any  of  the  drawers  of  the  high  dresser.  Leaving 
the  room  for  a  few  minutes,  and  assuring  herself  that  she 
was  alone  in  the  house,  Amelia  returned  with  a  hammer, 
and  with  a  few  blows  the  hasp  was  broken  and  the  mys 
tery  disclosed. 

We  have  seen  the  treasures  that  now  startled  the  inter 
loper.  Amelia  held  Darcy's  trinkets  in  her  hand,  her 
small  eyes  sparkling  viciously.  Now  her  vengeance  was 
in  her  own  hands.  Byron  would  not  be  able  to  throw  the 
burden  of  thieving  on  her  family  again,  for  here  was  the 
evidence  that  Norah  was  a  thief !  There  was  no  other 
explanation  of  such  things  in  the  girl's  possession.  She 
never  had  money  to  buy  such  jewels  ;  besides,  if  she  had 
come  by  them  lawfully,  why  secrete  them  and  masquerade 
with  them  only  at  midnight  ?  Amelia  laughed  a  little 
cackling  laugh  of  supreme  enjoyment.  Now  the  intruding 
beggar  should  be  driven  from  the  house  in  ignominy  ; 
even  Aunt  Selina  wouldn't  dare  shield  her  in  theft.  She 
slipped  the  jewels  into  her  pocket,  put  the  box  back  into 
the  closet,  and  resumed  her  work  with  an  elastic  step  and 
a  resumption  of  the  old  manner  that  struck  Norah  with 
dismay  when  she  entered  the  kitchen  a  few  minutes  after 
ward.  Amelia  said  nothing  to  her  then.  Her  soul  was  in 
arms  for  the  sort  of  fray  the  cruel  love.  To  confront 
Norah,  to  put  her  guilt  in  bodily  shape,  leaving  no  loop 
hole  of  pretext,  prevarication,  or  shift — that  was,  to  the 
ungenerous  hate  of  Amelia,  something  of  the  mysterious 
joy  of  an  inquisitor,  when  what  was  left  of  a  heretic's  body 
admitted  the  culpability  of  religious  schism. 

Byron  was  always  noisily  hilarious  at  the  evening  feast, 
and  this  evening  he  bantered  Denny  slyly  on  the  re-appear- 


THE   TELL-TALE   TREASURE. 


225 


ance  of  Dilly,  who  had  come  home  for  the  summer  vaca 
tion.  Even  Norah  was  drawn  into  the  merriment ;  but  her 
laughing  recreancy  was  swiftly  avenged  when  she  caught 
sight  of  the  lurking  malignity  in  Amelia's  snapping  eyes. 
When  the  kine  had  been  cared  for,  and  were  wandering 
off  back  of  the  great  peaceful  barn,  cropping  the  dewy 
grasses,  Denny,  returning  to  the  house,  wondered  that 
Norah's  voice  was  silent  in  the  dairy.  She  always  sang  in 
the  twilight  as  she  busied  herself  in  this  scene  of  her  own 
peculiar  reign.  He  found  her  troubled  and  pensive,  and 
she  owned,  falteringly,  that  she  felt  the  shadow  of  coming 
sorrow  in  her  heart.  Denny  ridiculed  the  foreboding,  de 
claring  that,  with  his  stout  arm  and  long  head  to  ward 
between  her  and  danger,  she  was  a  silly  girl  to  look  into 
the  shadows  for  trouble  when  the  realities  were  now  all  in 
her  favor.  A  luminous  twilight  still  bathed  the  western 
fields,  and  the  windows,  catching  the  lessening  flashes  of 
sunlight  reflected  from  the  clouds,  threw  a  halo  over 
Norah's  golden  tresses  as  she  sat  in  the  window.  Byron 
was  at  ease  on  the  homely,  stiff-backed  couch,  while 
Denny  sat  close  to  Aunt  Selina,  holding  his  arms  akimbo, 
supporting  a  "yarn  cradle,"  from  which  the  old  lady 
slowly  wound  up  a  ball. 

Amelia  had  waited  for  this  moment,  and  suddenly 
going  to  her  bedroom,  she  returned,  and,  standing  in  the 
middle  of  the  room,  she  said,  with  sneering  composure : 

"Norah,  where  did  you  get  these  ear-drops  and 
ring?" 

Something  in  the  voice,  metallic,  acrimonious,  trium 
phant,  shot  like  a  dart  to  Denny's  heart,  and  his  eye 
sought  his  sister's  face.  She  had  turned  to  Amelia ;  her 
eyes  were  wide  open,  and  a  deadly  terror  shone  from  the 
soft  depths.  From  her  frightened  face  Denny  gave  one 
look  at  the  gems  in  Amelia's  hand,  and  his  heart  almost 


226  THE  ALIENS. 

ceased  to  beat.  Byron  raised  himself  on  his  elbow, 
startled  by  the  sudden  change  in  the  manner  of  the 
children.  Aunt  Selina  looked  from  one  to  the  other, 
petrified. 

"  Byron,  you  said  that  there  were  no  thieves  in  this 
house.  Where  did  that  girl  get  these  ear-drops  ?  /  never 
had  any  so  costly  !  /  never  had  a  stone  like  this  !  And  a 
girl  in  her  position  never  came  honestly  by  them  !  " 

She  held  the  baubles  up  triumphantly,  that  all  might 
see  them.  Byron  arose  silently  and  took  them  from  his 
wife's  hands.  He  examined  them  attentively,  going  to  the 
window  and  scrutinizing  the  letters  inside  the  ring.  At 
this  Norah  seemed  to  regain  her  wits.  Darting  forward 
she  seized  his  hand,  saying  imploringly  : 

"  Don't !  don't  look  at  that !  These  are  mine — honest 
ly  mine  !  I  have  had  them  a  long  while  !  They  are  mine, 
I  say  !  Give  them  to  me  !  "  She  snatched  them  passion 
ately  from  Byron's  hands  and  put  them  in  her  bosom, 
then  turned  to  leave  the  room. 

"  No,  miss !  You  don't  leave  this  room  with  your 
plunder!  We  shall  see  whether  they  are  yours  or  not. 
People  who  will  steal  will  lie.  I  shan't  have  a  thief  in  this 
house." 

"  There,  there,  Amelia !  No  such  talk  as  that !  You 
know  very  well  Norah's  no  thief  ! "  and  Byron,  turning 
from  his  wife  to  Norah,  said,  gently  :  "  My  girl,  you  had 
better  tell  all  there  is  to  be  told  about  the  jewels.  I  know 
you  came  by  them  honestly,  but  it  would  be  better  to 
satisfy  all  hands,  so  that  nothing  can  be  said  in  future." 

But  Norah,  with  her  back  to  the  group,  made  no  sign. 
Byron  waited,  Denny  watched  with  a  sickening  fear  at  his 
heart,  but  she  never  opened  her  mouth.  Aunt  Selina 
arose,  and,  going  to  the  sobbing  figure,  laid  her  hand 
gently  on  Norah's  arm,  saying  soothingly  : 


THE   TELL-TALE  TREASURE. 


227 


"Dear  child,  it  is  best  that  you  should  explain.  I 
know  that  you  come  by  these  things  honestly,  but  every 
one  doesn't  know  you  as  I  do ;  every  one  doesn't  know 
that  you  found  money,  time  and  again,  in  large  sums,  that 
the  Doctor  lost  in  the  barn  and  the  wood-house,  and  that 
you  returned  it  faithfully.  Some  one  gave  you  these 
trinkets  as  keepsakes.  Who  was  it  ?  " 

She  had  pillowed  the  gentle  head  upon  her  breast  by 
this  time,  and  stroked  the  golden  tangle  that  fell  over  the 
girl's  shoulders  ;  but  Norah's  sobs  were  all  the  answer 
that  came  to  this  kindly  interrogation. 

"  Come,  we  will  go  to  your  chamber,  and  then  you  can 
tell  me  all  about  it,"  and  the  two  passed  from  the  room — 
Norah,  as  soon  as  the  others  were  not  in  sight,  flying  up 
the  staircase,  leaving  Aunt  Selina  far  behind.  When  the 
latter  reached  the  chamber  she  found  Norah  standing 
over  the  desecrated  box,  her  mild  eyes  flashing  with  anger 
as  she  pointed  to  the  evidences  of  Amelia's  rape  of  her 
treasure. 

"  They  are  mine  ;  they  were  given  me.  How  dare  she 
break  my  box  open  !  How  dare  she — how  dare  she  !  Oh, 
what  shall  I  do?" 

"  Norah,  you  must  tell  me,  your  mother,  where  these 
things  came  from.  You  know  you  are  only  a  young  girl 
to  have  such  valuable  ornaments,  and  though  Amelia  was 
wrong  to  break  open  your  box,  it  is  only  natural  that  she 
should  wonder  where  you  got  such  things." 

"  It's  nothing  to  her ;  they  are  mine  !  They  were 
given  me  !  "was  all  that  Norah  could  be  brought  to  say, 
as  she  turned  from  her  perplexed  friend,  her  hand  on 
the  treasures  in  the  bosom  of  her  gown.  Aunt  Selina 
waited,  but  there  was  no  response  to  her  tender  pleading. 
Drawing  the  girl's  head  on  her  breast,  she  sat  down  on  the 
edge  of  the  bed,  stroked  her  hair,  and  by  gentle  artifice 


228  THE  ALIENS. 

strove  to  make  her  talk.  But  Norah  was  sobbing  hyster 
ically,  and  after  an  hour's  ineffectual  urging  the  elder  left 
her  sadly,  puzzling  over  the  mystery,  but  unshaken  in  her 
belief  in  Norah's  integrity.  In  the  corridor  she  found 
Denny  sitting  by  the  open  window,  his  beloved  volume 
lying  unopened  on  his  knee,  his  elbows  resting  on  the 
wide  window-ledge.  The  moon  was  streaming  in,  soften 
ing  the  outlines  of  the  settee  and  chairs  in  the  wide  hall 
way  in  waves  of  soft,  misty  light.  She  sat  down  beside  him 
and  asked  : 

"  Do  you  know  anything  about  these  trinkets,  Denny  ? 
Norah  won't  say  where  she  got  them.  I  thought  at  first 
that  perhaps  they  had  been  your  mother's." 

"  No,  I  don't  know  at  all  where  she  got  them.  But 
she  has  had  them  more  than  a  year,  for  I  saw  them  on  her 
the  summer  the  Warchesters  were  at  Malvern,"  Denny 
replied,  innocently  unconscious  of  the  obtruding  clew  that 
Aunt  Selina  was  equally  too  unsuspecting  to  follow.  The 
kind  lady  left  the  lad  in  the  gathering  darkness  and  went 
sadly  down- stairs. 

"  Norah  came  honestly  by  these  jewels,"  she  said  to 
Byron,  who  sat  in  the  open  doorway,  the  rising  moon 
lighting  the  square  vestibule.  "  She  is  the  soul  of  honesty. 
Father" — Aunt  Selina  always  spoke  of  the  Doctor  as 
Father — "trusted  her  as  he  trusted  me.  He  would  as 
soon  have  suspected  me  as  either  of  the  children." 

"  But  where  could  she  get  such  valuable  things  ?  The 
mother's  relics  were  all  sold  long  before- her  death!" 
Amelia  asked  acridly  from  the  gloom  of  the  room.  "  Cer 
tainly  she  could  not  have  saved  the  money  to  buy  them  ; 
and,  even  supposing  that  some  of  the  farmers'  sons  have 
been  courting  her,  they  don't  give  presents  like  them  !  I 
tell  you  the  minx  has  either  stolen  the  money  to  buy 
them,  or  she  stole  them  from  Mrs.  Warchester  when  she 


THE   TELL-TALE   TREASURE. 


229 


was  in  the  house.  It's  been  my  opinion  all  along  that  she 
stole  them  then." 

Aunt  Selina  uttered  a  cry  of  pain,  and  said,  in  an  im 
ploring  tone : 

"  O  Amelia,  dont,  don't !  If  you  knew  this  girl  as  I 
know  her,  you  would  not  do  her  such  a  cruel  wrong.  She 
came  by  these  trinkets  honestly,  and  it  will  be  known 
some  time.  I  beg  that  you  will  not  let  her  think  that  you 
really  suspect  her  of  such  misconduct." 

"  She  knows  my  mind,"  cried  Amelia,  raising  her  voice  ; 
"  she  knows  that  I  think  her  a  thief,  as  I  knew  her  to  be 
deceitful  and  designing.  And  all  I've  got  to  say  is,  that  if 
that  brazen  hussy  stops  in  this  house  I  shall  quit  it,  and 
I  don't  put  foot  in  it  again  until  she  is  driven  out !  " 

"  Well,  I  reckon  " — it  was  Byron  who  spoke,  and  he 
drawled  his  words  out  with  careless  deliberation — "if 
that's  your  notion,  you  might  just  as  well  move,  for,  so 
long  as  I  am  master  of  this  house,  Norah  has  a  home 
here."  He  paused  as  if  waiting  for  his  wife  to  reply,  and 
then,  pushing  back  his  chair,  arose.  "  Is  Norah  in  her 
room,  mother  ? " 

"  Yes,  she  is  there." 

He  strode  to  the  stairway,  mounted  very  deliber 
ately,  and,  not  noticing  Denny  in  the  gloom,  passed  into 
Norah's  room  without  knocking.  In  the  dim  light  he 
discerned  her  figure  at  the  open  window.  She  must  have 
heard  every  one  of  Amelia's  cruel  words.  Her  head  was 
bent  over  on  -the  wide  ledge  and  clasped  in  her  hands. 
She  did  not  move  as  Byron's  heavy  step  resounded  on 
the  threshold,  nor  did  she  raise  her  head  when  he  came 
close  to  her  and  said  : 

"  Norah,  you  mustn't  mind  what  my  wife  said  about 
those  jewels.  I  know  you  well  enough  to  know  that  they 
are  honestly  yours.  Whether  you  like  to  tell  where  you 


230 


THE  ALIENS. 


got  them  or  not,  it  is  your  own  free  will  to  say.  I  know 
some  one  gave  them  to  you.  I  don't  ask  you  to  tell  me 
who  ;  but,  Norah,  don't  you  know  that  it  is  dangerous  for 
a  young  girl  like  you  to  take  such  things  from  a  young 
man  ? " 

She  lifted  her  head  suddenly  and  looked  at  him.  Even 
in  the  dim  half-moonlight,  half-twilight,  he  could  see  panic 
and  wonder  in  her  dilating  eyes. 

"Danger,  Mr.  Marbury!     What  do  you  mean?" 

He  waited  for  her  to  go  on,  hoping  that  his  speech 
would  provoke  a  betrayal  of  the  unknown  lover.  But  she 
hesitated,  staring  at  him  mutely. 

"  Yes,  Norah,  young  girls  can  not  accept  presents  from 
a  man  unless  that  man  is  a  promised  husband.  Have  you 
promised  any  one  to  be  his  wife  ? " 

His  voice  trembled  strangely,  and  he  waited  again.  The 
moon,  rising  higher,  sent  a  strange  weird  shadow  through 
the  room.  Norah  was  very  pale,  and  her  soft  eyes  were 
suffused  with  tears.  With  the  adorable  address  of  her 
race,  she  answered  the  question,  guilelessly  but  astutely : 

"  And  who  would  ask  the  like  of  me  to  be  his  wife, 
Mr.  Marbury  ? " 

"  If  I  were  a  free  man,  I'd  ask  you.  O  Norah,  why 
didn't  I  see  you  before — before —  Norah  " — Byron's  voice 
sank  into  a  hoarse  whisper — "  Norah,  if  you  like  jewelry — 
if  you  like  silks — love  me,  and  everything  you  want  shall 
be  yours  !  " 

He  had  come  within  arm's  reach  while  speaking,  and  in 
an  ungovernable  paroxysm  of  passion  clasped  her  head  to 
his  bosom  and  kissed  her  again  and  again.  With  a  loud 
scream  she  broke  from  him  and  fled  through  the  doorway. 
As  she  reached  the  corridor,  Denny  was  before  her,  com 
ing  to  her  aid. 

"  What  is  it,  Norah  ?     Is  anybody  harming  you  ?  " 


FRIENDS  AT  THE  BLUE  JAY.  231 

"  No,  no  !  "  she  gasped,  flinging  her  arms  about  his 
neck  and  sinking  down  into  the  window-seat.  "  Don't  leave 
me,  Denny — don't,  don't!" 

"  She's  only  nervous,  Denny,"  said  Byron,  coming 
from  the  doorway.  "  She  needs  a  sound  night's  rest. 
She's  a  little  put  out  with  me  because  I  told  her  that  I 
meant  to  find  out  the  chap  that  gave  her  the  jewels. 
She's  afraid  I'll  make  him  walk  Spanish;  and,  by  hokey,  I 
will!" 

This  was  said  in  a  tone  of  good-natured  raillery,  for 
Denny,  but  it  fell  like  a  menace  on  the  ears  of  Norah,  and 
she  shivered  as  though  stricken  with  a  wintry  blast  in  the 
protecting  arms  of  her  brother. 

It  was  near  midnight  when  Denny,  after  hours  of 
pleading,  went  to  bed  baffled.  He  could  get  nothing 
from  the  resolute  victim.  Beyond  the  assertion  that  the 
suspected  treasures  were  lawfully  her  own,  she  refused  to 
say  a  word.  Irritation,  coaxing,  threatening,  could  not  push 
her  beyond  that. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FRIENDS   AT    THE   BLUE    JAY. 

HAPLESS  Norah  !  the  very  flawlessness  of  her  innocence 
made  her  more  easily  the  victim  of  the  cruel  suspicion 
leveled  at  her.  She  heard  every  word  of  Amelia's  malev 
olent  outbreak.  She  realized  that,  unless  she  confessed 
the  jewels  to  be  Darcy's  gift,  she  must  accept  the  suspicion 
of  the  household.  But  Darcy  had  charged  her  never  to 
breathe  the  secret,  and,  with  the  superstitious  fidelity  of  her 
race,  she  would  have  met  the  stake,  silent  and  unshaken. 
Her  trouble  had  been  deep  and  wearying  even  before  this 


232  THE  ALIENS. 

dismal  incident  came  to  harass.  The  declaration  of  Byron, 
his  passionate  embrace  in  the  dairy,  his  furtive  glances 
whenever  she  encountered  his  eyes,  in  the  weeks  inter 
vening,  filled  her  with  a  nameless  terror  no  words  can  con 
vey. 

She  dared  not  confide  in  Denny,  lest  there  should  be 
a  quarrel  and  a  rupture  in  the  household.  If  Denny  were 
driven  out,  it  would  kill  Aunt  Selina,  who  loved  him  the 
more  tenderly  that  he  had  been  in  every  sense  a  son  to 
the  Doctor  as  well  as  a  delight  to  herself.  Day  after  day 
the  poor  girl  had  made  up  her  mind  to  fly.  The  shadow 
of  the  sin  that  Byron's  words  conjured  arose  before  her 
day  and  night,  like  a  vengeance  for  some  unknown  fault  of 
her  own.  In  her  dreams  the  dead  mother's  face  came  be 
fore  her,  and  the  pale  dead  lips  warned  her  to  fly  from  the 
moral  maelstrom  in  which  the  contaminating  current  was 
swirling  her.  Fly  ?  She  had  asked  herself,  whither  ?  She 
knew  no  one.  Where  could  she  hide  herself  that  Byron's 
mad  pursuit  could  not  find  her  ?  How  explain  to  Denny  ? 
How  tell  him  the  wicked  passion  that  Byron  had  forced 
her  to  hear  ?  There  would  be  bad  blood.  Denny  would 
be  killed,  for  she  knew  Byron's  ungovernable  temper 
when  crossed  in  his  purposes.  Then,  too,  she  dimly  real 
ized  the  relation  of  the  orphan  in  the  land  of  the  stranger. 
"  The  droits  du  seigneur  " — liege 's-rights — still  existed  in  this 
country.  The  physical  slavery  of  the  South  had  its  coun 
terpart  in  the  moral  helotry  of  the  North.  The  handmaid 
of  the  patriarch  was  no  more  his  chattel  than  the  semi- 
filial  "  help  "  of  his  descendant.  Guileless  as  she  was,  she 
had  seen  among  the  neighbors  evidences  that,  while  God 
fearing  men  condemned  laxities,  few  households  were 
without  specters  of  the  sort  that  now  arose  before  her  ter 
rified  vision. 

She  had  been  in  a  turmoil  of  panic  since  that  dreadful 


FRIENDS  AT   THE  BLUE  JAY.  233 

day  in  the  dairy  when  Byron  avowed  his  unholy  desires. 
It  was  herself  she  blamed,  poor  child.  She  dimly  reasoned 
that  it  was  a  punishment  for  the  presumption  of  loving 
Darcy.  That  love  was  deep  in  her  heart,  and  in  the 
silence  of  the  night,  as  well  as  in  the  long  hours  of  the  day, 
memory  fed  its  lingering  shadows.  It  had  become  her  re 
ligion — silent,  mystical,  enduring.  She  never  asked  her 
self  if  the  beautiful  boy  would  come  back  to  her.  She 
knew  that  his  heart  was  full  of  her ;  that  she  had  but  to 
raise  her  soft  eyes  to  his,  and  his  arms  would  be  about  her,  his 
lips  to  her  own.  She  had  his  daguerreotype  in  her  breast. 

At  first  she  secreted  it  in  the  little  casket  in  her  box, 
where  Amelia's  prying  eyes  had  discovered  the  jewels ;  but 
she  hungered  to  look  at  it  so  often  through  the  day,  that  in 
the  end  she  had  hung  it  as  a  talisman  about  her  neck,  near 
her  heart.  Even  before  Amelia's  discovery  she  had,  after 
nights  of  cruel  anguish,  made  up  her  mind  to  fly.  She 
would  go  to  the  city.  She  would  tell  Darcy  all,  and  ask 
him  to  find  her  a  hiding-place  from  Byron,  where  even 
Denny  should  not  for  a  time  know  of  her  whereabouts. 
So,  on  this  wretched  night,  with  Amelia's  savage  words 
burning  in  her  brain,  and  Byron's  still  more  hideous  love 
threatening  her,  she  resolved  to  go  far  away  and  hide 
from  the  danger  she  had  no  other  means  of  escaping. 

Yes,  she  must  seek  safety.  After  Denny  had  gone, 
she  sat  down  at  the  open  window.  The  night  without  was 
serenely  tranquil.  The  mellow  moonlight  threw  fairy 
shadows  on  the  greensward  of  the  orchard,  and  the 
friendly  chirp  of  the  crickets  made  the  air  melodious.  She 
got  up  resolutely,  and,  taking  out  her  box,  withdrew  her 
treasures.  A  few  articles  from  her  wardrobe  were  added, 
and  these  tied  up  securely  in  a  small  shawl.  This  done, 
she  opened  the  door  to  Denny's  room  and  listened.  He 
was  sleeping  peacefully,  his  quiet  breathing  sounding  regu- 


234 


THE  ALIENS. 


larly  through  the  moonlit  room.  The  clamor  of  the  tall 
cuckoo-clock  in  the  kitchen-hall  startled  her.  She  counted 
the  strokes.  Three  o'clock  !  She  must  wait  a  little  longer. 

Kneeling  at  the  bedside,  where  she  had  said  her  simple 
prayers  since  childhood,  she  sobbed  softly,  her  head  buried 
in  the  clothing.  Her  sobs  soothed  her  into  a  doze,  for, 
when  she  started  up,  the  moon  had  gone  down,  and  the 
darkness  of  dawn  was  on  the  face  of  the  land.  She  arose, 
trembling.  The  darkness  and  stillness  frightened  her. 
Even  the  crickets  chirped  their  cheerful  cries  no  longer. 
The  world  hung  pulseless  in  the  birth  of  day.  The  fresh 
ness  of  the  air  from  the  open  window  revived  her  be 
numbed  energies.  Stealing  on  tip-toe  to  Denny's  bedside, 
she  bent  over  and  pressed  her  lips  gently  to  his  forehead. 
He  murmured  something,  and  moved.  She  sank  down 
swiftly  at  the  side  of  the  bed,  and  knelt  in  a  panic  of 
hope  and  fear.  If  he  awoke  she  could  not  go.  Her  heart 
beat  with  the  hope  that  he  would  speak ;  but,  with  a  sigh, 
he  turned  over,  and  his  regular  breathing  told  her  that  he 
slept.  She  went  back,  got  her  bundle,  and,  moving  swiftly, 
descended  the  stairs,  trembling  in  every  limb,  and  her 
heart  throbbing  with  such  violence  that  she  feared  Amelia 
would  hear  it.  But  she  reached  the  front  door,  let  down 
the  chain,  and  in  an  instant  was  cowering  in  the  tall  car 
away-grass  that  grew  quite  up  to  the  porch.  With  a  swift 
glance  about,  she  sank  down  on  the  dewy  grass  overcome. 

The  door  had  made  a  great  noise  in  closing,  and  she  ex 
pected  to  see  some  one  appear.  But  the  noise  had  seemed 
great  only  to  her  nerves  at  high  tension.  Five  minutes 
passed,  and,  with  a  thrill  of  something  like  disappointment, 
she  started  to  her  feet  and  fled  through  the  orchard.  The 
cows  were  beginning  to  browse,  and,  as  she  passed  near 
them,  the  mottled  heifer  uttered  what  seemed  to  her  a  re 
proachful  cry.  She  stopped,  climbed  the  fence,  leaving 


FRIENDS  AT  THE  BLUE  JAY.  235 

her  bundle  on  the  other  side,  and,  with  a  gasp  of  despair, 
flung  her  arms  about  the  neck  of  the  docile  beast.  As  she 
stood  there,  the  thick  darkness  suddenly  grew  transparent, 
then  a  great  wave  of  purple  rose  along  the  hills  to  the  east 
ward,  and  she  knew  the  morning  had  come.  There  was 
something  of  a  moan  in  the  animal's  cry  as  she  kissed  it 
on  the  forehead,  and,  climbing  the  fence  again,  fled  swiftly 
through  the  orchard.  She  did  not  go  in  the  highway,  but 
kept  on  through  the  fields  skirting  it.  The  cocks  were 
now  crowing  in  the  farm-yards,  and  she  could  hear  the 
farmers'  boys  singing  as  they  washed  themselves  at  the 
watering-troughs. 

So  long  as  the  route  lay  through  farms,  she  hurried  on 
rapidly  and  without  concern ;  but,  when  she  came  to  the 
straggling  outskirts  of  Warchester,  she  grew  frightened  at 
the  curious  gaze  of  the  people  as  they  passed  her.  She 
had  drawn  a  green  veil  over  her  eyes,  and  this  precaution 
had  much  to  do  with  the  piquing,  the  curiosity,  of  those 
who  saw  a  young  and  pretty  girl  tripping  along  with  damp 
shoes  and  dripping  skirts,  telling  plainly  of  a  walk  through 
the  dewy  grasses  of  the  fields.  But  now  she  was  in  the 
city,  and  people  began  to  notice  her  less.  She  had  not 
formed  any  plan  as  to  what  she  should  do.  Now  she 
began  to  speculate  confusedly.  Without  any  distinct  pur 
pose,  she  had  directed  her  steps  to  the  Caribee  tavern, 
where  Dr.  Marbury  had  always  stabled  his  horses  when 
he  came  to  town.  She  had  reached  the  alley  behind  the 
house,  when  she  suddenly  remembered  that,  if  she  were 
to  go  in,  she  could  be  easily  traced,  for  the  landlord  knew 
her.  He  had  seen  her  with  the  Doctor  often.  Her  heart 
gave  a  great  thump,  and  she  turned  hastily,  fearing  that, 
as  it  was,  she  might  have  been  recognized.  Remembering 
another  inn  further  from  the  center  of  trade,  she  hurried 
thither.  A  young  boy  was  singing  cheerily  at  the  door 


236  THE  ALIENS. 

while  flinging  a  golden  shower  of  corn  to  a  clamorous 
brood  of  geese  and  chickens.  He  was  rosy-faced  and 
kind-looking,  and  Norah  felt  encouraged  to  speak  to  him. 

"  Do  you  take  lodgers  here  ?  " 

The  boy  suspended  his  ministry,  and  looked  at  her 
good-humoredly. 

"  I  reckon  we  do  when  we  can  git  'em.  Want  to  board 
with  us  ? " 

"  Yes,"  Norah  said  faintly.  "  At  least  for  a  little  while. 
How  much  will  you  charge  for  a  week  ? " 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  exactly,  but  walk  right  in.  Fa 
ther's  gone  to  market,  and  mother's  in  the  kitchen.  She'll 
tell  you  all  about  it.  Sha'n't  I  take  your  bundle  ?  " 

The  boy  relieved  her  of  her  burden,  and  led  the  way 
through  a  hallway  scrupulously  clean.  It  was  papered 
with  variegated  landscapes,  bearing  the  relation  to  modern 
designs  that  Japanese  figures  do  to  the  artistic  papers  of 
to-day.  At  the  end  of  the  long  hallway  the  boy  opened  a 
door,  and  ushered  her  into  a  pleasant  room,  with  very  low 
ceilings  and  the  same  grotesque  wall  adornment.  Leaving 
her  here,  he  hurried  out  and  returned  a  moment  later  with 
a  jolly-faced  matron,  who  fairly  rolled  into  the  room,  she 
was  so  fat.  She  surveyed  Norah  with  a  pair  of  merry 
brown  eyes,  beginning  the  conversation  abruptly. 

"Be  you  from  the  country,  miss? " 

"Yes,"  Norah  faltered,  terrified  lest  she  should  be 
asked  to  tell  all  that  was  on  her  troubled  mind. 

"  Fur  ? " 

"  About  seven  miles." 

"  Got  any  friends  in  town  ? "  She  pronounced  it 
"  taown." 

Norah  hesitated.  She  dared  not  speak  of  the  War- 
chesters,  for  that  would  betray  her  to  Byron.  In  the 
crisis  she  suddenly  thought  of  her  uncle  James. 


FRIENDS  AT  THE  BLUE  JAY.  237 

"Yes,  I  have  an  uncle." 

"  Know  where  he  lives  ? " 

"  No.     I  want  to  stay  here  until — until — " 

"  Jest  so.  You  want  to  stay  here  until  you  can  find 
him.  Well,  you  seem  to  be  a  likely  girl,  and  I  guess  you 
can  stay  until  you  find  your  uncle." 

Norah  was  taken  straightway  to  a  small  room  up  one 
flight  of  stairs,  with  a  pretty  dormer-window  looking  over 
the  slanting  roof  into  the  street. 

"Miss — ah,  yes — what  shall  I  call  you?"  The  stout 
lady  was  puffing  with  the  exertion  of  climbing  the  stairs, 
and  sat  down  as  Norah  began  to  remove  her  bonnet  and 
thin  shawl. 

"  My  name  is  Norah.    You  can  call  me  Norah,  please." 

"  Norah  !  That's  a  soft-sounding,  pretty  name.  My 
husband's  mother  was  called  Norah.  She  was  Irish — 
from  the  South  of  Ireland.  Be  you  Irish  ? " 

Norah 's  heart  sank.  Was  she  to  be  turned  out  now 
that  the  haven  seemed  to  be  gained?  She  answered, 
tremulously : 

"Yes,  I'm  Irish."  She  waited  in  anguish  to  hear  the 
response  to  this  fatal  admission. 

"  Well,  I  swan,  I'd  never  have  thought  it !  You  look 
as  nice,  and  your  manners  are  as  nice  as — "  But  here 
the  good  lady's  powers  of  comparison  gave  out,  and  she 
recollected  that  there  might  be  a  shade  of  ungraciousness 
in  the  reflective  form  her  words  had  taken.  She  con 
tinued,  with  animation  :  "  I  see  how  it  is.  You  have 
lived  among  folks,  and  you  have  nothing  of  the  Irish 
about  you  !  No  one  could  ever  tell,  to  hear  you  talk  ; 
why,  you  haven't  a  bit  of  brogue  !  " 

Now,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  reproduce  the  humor  of 
-ins,  as  the  shrill  nasal  and  broad  thin  as,  es,  and  os  have 
no  onomatopoetic  equivalents  that  words  or  parts  of  words 


238  THE  ALIENS. 

will  reproduce.  It  was  a  cross  between  the  flat  vowels  of 
Philadelphia  and  the  prolonged  sibilation  of  Connecticut 
of  to-day,  aggravated  by  the  deliberation  of  the  West. 
Norah  fixed  her  gentle  eyes  on  this  jovial  destiny,  and 
waited  the  end. 

"Jonas — that's  my  old  man — rather  favors  the  Irish. 
He  don't  own  it  in  public,  but  he  does  really.  He'll  like 
you  because  you  have  his  mother's  name.  There  he  is 
now  !  I  hear  him  down-stairs.  He'll  help  you  to  find 
your  uncle.  He  knows  every  one  from  the  lake  to  the 
last  farm  in  Warchester  County.  Come  down  when 
you've  fixed  yourself,  and  we'll  make  you  feel  tu 
hum  !  " 

When  the  kind  lady  waddled  out,  Norah  sank  on  her 
knees  and  poured  out  a  fervent  prayer  of  thanksgiving 
and  relief.  The  worst  was  over ;  she  had  shelter  until 
she  could  look  about  her.  Her  little  room  was  tidy  and 
trim  ;  the  bed  was  fluffy  and  soft  as  her  own  at  Marbury  ; 
the  chintz  vallance  and  the  pink  paper  gave  the  place  a 
cheerful  air,  and  from  her  window  she  could  see  the  misty 
column  of  spray  that  hung  over  the  great  cataract,  whose 
roar,  when  the  noise  of  the  city  died  away,  came  over  the 
house-tops  quite  plainly  to  her  ear. 

She  had  changed  her  wet  shoes  and  stockings,  and  re 
placed  the  draggled  skirts  when  Mrs.  Jonas  re-appeared. 

"  I  thought  may  be  you'd  feel  kind  o'  shy  'bout  comin' 
daown  alone.  I've  asked  Jonas  'bout  yer  uncle  Boyne, 
an'  he's  got  suthin'  tu  tell  you."  She  looked  pityingly  at 
the  girl  as  she  said  this,  her  kind  voice  faltering  a  little, 
and  then  added,  cheerily,  "  But  I  don't  believe  you've 
had  a  mouthful  tu  eat,  fur,  ef  you  come  in  from  so  far,  you 
must  a'  left  hum  before  breakfast !  I've  set  a  little 
suthin'  on  the  table,  and  you  must  come  and  eat  while 
it  is  hot !  " 


FRIENDS  AT   THE  BLUE  JAY.  239 

"  Oh,  how  good  you  are,  Mrs. — Mrs. — " 

"  Blythe — that's  our  name.  Jonas  Blythe  is  my  hus 
band.  Haven't  you  never  heard  of  him  ?  Why,  he's  as 
well  known  as  Governor  Darcy  in  this  county  !  He's  the 
best  man  livin',  ef  I  du  say  it  as  shouldn't — just  wait  and 
see  !  Here  we  be,  Jone  ! "  she  added,  as  she  ushered 
Norah  into  a  cozy,  oblong  dining-room  with  a  table  set  in 
the  middle. 

"  Jone  "  was  engaged  with  a  confused  mass  of  cords, 
hooks,  and  pulleys,  which  he  alluded  to  later  on  as 
"  fishin'-tackle."  He  merely  looked  up  as  Mrs.  "  Jone  " 
presented  her  prote'gfo,  and  said,  amicably : 

"  How  d'ye  do,  miss  ? " 

Norah  was  pushed  into  a  chair  at  the  table,  and,  under 
pretext  of  something  to  do  in  the  kitchen,  Mrs.  Blythe  left 
her  guest,  after  heaping  her  plate  and  filling  her  cup. 

"  When  did  ye  hear  from  yaour  uncle  Boyne  last  ? " 
asked  Jonas,  without  looking  up,  and  as  if  he  were  con 
tinuing  a  conversation. 

"  Oh,  ever  so  long  ago — many  years — I  can't  say  how 
long,  but  not  since  I  was  a  little  girl." 

"  Jess  so !  jess  so !  I  thought  likely  you  hadn't. 
Didn't  know  much  'bout  him,  did  yeou  ?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Never  saw  him,  may  be  ? " 

"  I  don't  recollect  seeing  him,  but  we  must  have  seen 
him,  because  we  stopped  at  his  house — a  pretty  brick  cot 
tage,  with  a  long  porch." 

"  Jess  so  !  Waal,  now,  my  girl,  I'd  as  lief  lose  a  sum 
mer's  fishin'  as  tell  yeou  bad  news,  but  the  fact  is — "  Jonas 
halted  in  the  awkward  fumbling  that  had  been  going  on 
among  the  "  tackle,"  and  added,  looking  resolutely  away 
from  Norah  and  out  of  the  window  at  a  mule  the  boys 

were    teasing    in    the    neighboring    stable-yard,    "WTaal, 
ii 


240  THE  ALIENS. 

Norah — purty  name  that — "  He  hesitated  again,  looked 
furtively  at  Norah  as  she  unsuspiciously  sipped  her  coffee, 
and  then  added,  desperately,  "Uncle  Boyne  ain't  here 
any  more  ! " 

"  He  isn't  here  ? "  Norah  echoed,  more  in  relief  than 
surprise. 

"  No,  he's  gone." 

"  Ah,  he's  gone  ?" 

"  Yes,  he's  not  in  Warchester.  But  don't  yeou  feel  bad. 
Cesty  Jane's  taken  a  powerful  fancy  to  yeou,  and  ef  yeou 
ain't  got  no  home,  why,  jess  set  right  down  here  and  feel 
to  hum  ! " 

"Yes,  Norah,"  Mrs.  Blythe  said,  entering  the  room 
from  behind  the  girl,  "  don't  worry  about  yaour  uncle.  Ef 
it  was  tu  find  a  hum  with  him  yeou  come  to  the  city,  don't 
fret,  fur  yeou  can  stay  with  us,  and  be  our  daughter." 

The  tears  were  in  Norah's  eyes,  and  her  throat  was 
choked.  She  could  only  rise  and  kiss  the  kind  woman's 
hands,  Jonas  being  much  interested  in  the  mule's  antics, 
and  resolutely  refusing  to  witness  "  the  'tarnal  foolin'  o' 
them  women  folks,"  as  he  afterward  averred. 

Had  she  been  the  cleverest  and  most  designing  of  her 
sex,  as  she  was  certainly  the  most  artless  and  ingenuous, 
tempest-tossed  Norah  could  not  have  allayed  the  sur 
charged  storm  more  dexterously.  Her  very  ignorance  was 
a  panoply.  She  had  no  sense  of  the  incongruity  of  her 
conduct,  the  obvious  contradiction  between  her  assertions 
and  her  indifference  to  her  surroundings.  This  quaint 
introduction  to  the  Blythe  household  illustrates  the  home 
ly  pathos  of  her  life  at  the  time.  The  kind  husband  and 
wife  thought  they  were  sparing  the  poor  child  present 
grief  by  concealing  the  death  of  her  kinsman,  and  she  was 
tranquilly  grateful  that  she  had  not  been  compelled  to 
divulge  anything  likely  to  put  Byron  or  Denny  on  her 


FRIENDS  AT  THE  BLUE  JAY.  241 

trail,  and  yet  had  brought  it  about  without  subterfuge  or 
falsehood. 

When  Norah  had  gone  from  the  room,  Blythe  looked 
up  with  a  queer  expression,  and  ejaculated  : 

"  I  say,  Cesty," — Mrs.  Blythe's  name  was  Alcestis — "  I 
played  that  rather  slick,  don't  yeou  think?" 

"  But,  Jone,  how  are  we  ever  to  tell  her  ? " 

"  Oh,  jess  let  her  get  to  feelin'  kind  o'  humlike.  Set 
her  to  work  doin'  chores  ;  that'll  keep  her  mind  from 
frettin',  and  then  we'll  kind  o'  let  it  come  by  jerks — as  the 
eel  said  when  he  caught  the  hook." 

"  She's  a  mighty  purty  girl,  ain't  she,  Jone  ?  Favors 
my  sister  Melina,  don't  yeou  think  ? " 

"  Waal,  no,  I  hadn't  thought  on  it.  I'd  like  to  know 
why  she's  alone.  Father  and  mother  dead,  yeou  say  ? " 

"  So  she  says.  I  know  this  is  a  proper  girl,  fur  the 
fust  thing  she  took  out  from  her  traps  was  a  Bible ;  and 
she's  got  a  sampler,  worked  real  beautiful,  with  the  words, 
'  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth.' 
Reckon  she's  got  good  principles ;  perhaps  she's  a  Metho 
dist — shouldn't  wonder  if  she  was."  And  Mrs.  Blythe 
stood  reflectively,  her  arms  akimbo,  watching  her  husband 
as  he  sat,  like  an  enormous  spider  in  its  web,  with  the 
fish  lines  and  nets  covering  his  limbs,  while  the  more 
obdurate  knots  and  kinks  were  unraveled  or  adjusted  by 
his  teeth. 

It  was  James  Boyne's  death  which  the  simple  Samari 
tans  had  aimed  to  conceal  from  the  friendless  girl,  and 
the  artifice  bound  husband  and  wife  in  a  conspiracy  of 
kindliness  and  incuriousness  which  made  Norah's  con 
dition  very  easy  in  the  honest  household.  Released  from 
the  embarrassment  of  keeping  up  the  comedy  of  seeking  a 
relative  that  she  by  no  means  desired  to  see,  Norah  began 
to  interest  herself  in  the  affairs  of  the  household.  Her 


242  THE  ALIENS. 

trained  skill  soon  made  itself  felt  in  the  domestic  regime. 
Her  deft  hands  gave  a  new  and  home-like  order  to  the 
hurried  disorder  of  the  house,  for  though  Mrs.  Blythe, 
like  all  the  women  of  those  days,  knew  how  to  manage, 
she  had  grown  too  stout  to  supervise  details.  Here  the 
noiseless  energy  of  Norah  came  into  play . 

Without  ado,  revolution,  or  obtrusion,  the  home-like 
rooms  were  given  quite  a  new  aspect ;  and  when  the  silent 
minister  set  herself  to  the  edibles,  Jonas  declared  that 
such  cooking  couldn't  be  matched  in  the  State,  and  he 
knew,  he  maintained,  for  he  had  broken  bread  in  every 
tavern  from  the  Hudson  to  the  Ohio.  The  homely  dining- 
room,  with  its  gaudily  bepictured  paper,  echoed  to  Jonas 's 
vauntings  over  the  rich,  fluffy  "  Johnny-cake,"  the  waffles, 
the  biscuits,  the  pie,  the  doughnuts,  the  apple-fritters,  the 
pot-pies  and  stews,  that  Norah  produced  with  as  little 
fuss  as  another  in  preparing  the  heavy  and  indigestible 
dishes  that  had  before  satisfied  the  "  Blue  Jays'  "  unexact- 
ing  palate.  Husband  and  wife  agreed  that  a  treasure  had 
fallen  into  the  house,  and  that  they  meant  to  keep  it 
there  if  affection  and  domestic  equality  could  bring  it 
about. 

But  to  all  their  urging  Norah  pleaded  for  seclusion. 
She  could  never  be  induced  to  sit  on  the  veranda  of  an 
evening,  when  the  boarders  and  neighbors  joined  in 
caucus  to  canvass  the  peccadilloes  of  the  town.  She 
shrank  from  meeting  the  curious  females  that  came  in  to 
call  on  Mrs.  Blythe,  eager  to  see  the  new  kinswoman  who 
had  come  to  live  with  the  family,  for  the  Blythes  had 
carelessly  "  let  on  "  that  Norah  was  a  relative,  to  the  no 
small  mystification  of  the  son  of  the  house,  who  had  never 
heard  of  this  "cousin"  suddenly  conferred  on  him.  Man- 
lius  was  the  lad's  name,  abbreviated  to  "  Manly,"  and  he 
instantly  lost  his  youthful  heart  to  the  pensive  minister  of 


FRIENDS  AT   THE  BLUE  JAY.  243 

such  good  things  as  small  boys  like.  For,  when  she  baked, 
Norah  supplied  Manly  with  divers  delectables,  dear  to  the 
hearts  of  small  boys,  and  the  fame  of  them  went  all  over 
the  neighborhood.  For  Manly,  with  a  collection  of  pre 
ternatural  pygmies,  geese,  manikins,  dogs,  elephants,  and 
what  not,  turned  out  from  Norah's  dough-pans,  invaded 
the  play-houses  of  all  the  vicinage  urchins,  extolling  the 
creator  of  them,  and  magnanimously  sharing  their  dis 
membered  limbs  with  his  boy  friends. 

Of  an  evening,  when  the  protecting  twilight  fell,  Norah, 
with  the  proud  Manlius  for  escort,  wandered  along  the 
green  banks  of  the  Caribee,  and  sat  silent  and  meditative 
on  the  secluded  knoll  overlooking  the  rushing  cataract. 
The  small  Manlius  was  at  first  a  good  deal  abashed  by  his 
responsible  privilege,  but  the  shyness  soon  wore  off,  and 
he  entertained  the  maiden  with  such  distorted  fictions  as 
his  active  mind  retained  from  his  associations  and  his 
meager  store  of  books.  But,  when  Norah  revived  the 
romances  Denny  had  imparted  to  her — when  she  opened 
the  fairy  wonders  of  the  "Arabian  Nights,"  "Pilgrim's 
Progress,"  and  "Robinson  Crusoe,"  Manly  secretly  be 
lieved  that  she  was  the  Princess  Scheherezade  herself,  and 
the  adoration  which  the  sweets  had  aroused  was  trans 
formed  into  a  mystic  devotion,  more  tenacious  and  ador 
ing  than  was  ever  felt  by  a  disciple  of  Apis.  Sometimes, 
however,  he  wavered  in  this  conviction.  When  he  saw  the 
dull,  inanimate  dough  transformed  by  Norah's  touch  into 
the  varied  forms  he  loved,  he  was  sure  that  she  was 
Morgiana,  or  the  household  fairy,  that  a  crony  had  told 
him  of,  who  kept  peace  and  plenty  in  families  where 
fairies  were  loved.  Of  an  evening,  when  she  hovered 
over  the  shining  pewter  at  the  kitchen  range,  he  expected 
to  see  the  fairy  chariot  evolve  itself  from  the  vegetable 
hamper,  and  Norah  turning  into  a  beautiful  thing  of  wings 


244  THE  ALIENS. 

and  shining  raiment,  endowed  with  aerial  motion,  sail  up 
the  roaring  chimney-mouth,  never  to  come  back. 

He  was  presently  inspired  with  such  a  passion  for  read 
ing  that  his  astonished  mother  stood  aghast  when  at  bed 
time  he  pleaded  for  another  "spell."  The  father  wagged 
his  head  owlishly. 

"  It  is  quite  natural,"  he  remarked,  when  the  change 
came  up  for  discussion.  "The  Blythes  have  always 
been  great  on  book-larnin'.  Grandfather  Blythe  Avas 
a  chaplain  in  the  army  of  General  Sullivan,  another 
Blythe  was  a  school-teacher.  Just  as  like  as  not  Manly 
will  be  a  learned  and  great  man  ;  perhaps  he  may  be 
a  lawyer  !  " 

It  was  decided  that  the  boy's  bent  should  be  encour 
aged  :  the  glory  of  the  house  of  Blythe  might  rest  under 
his  tow  head.  So  some  of  the  sorcery  that  Manly  ascribed 
to  the  girl  was  believed  by  the  parents,  and  Norah  was 
treated  as  Naomi  treated  her  new  daughter.  Relieved  of 
the  burden  of  her  vague  fears,  she  soon  resumed  her  Celtic 
gayety,  and  Jonas  loved,  almost  as  well  as  his  beloved 
fishing,  to  sit  by  the  hour  and  cozen  the  unsuspecting 
sprite  into  merriment  and  repartee.  Two  or  three  times 
Norah  had,  as  she  sat  at  the  window,  recognized  Darcy 
sauntering  down  the  street.  Once  he  dashed  past  on  a 
beautiful  horse,  with  a  charming  girl  beside  him — the  girl 
she  had  seen  the  night  of  the  disaster  at  the  Warchesters' 
gate.  After  that  she  sat  a  good  deal  at  the  window,  and 
Manly  made  it  a  duty  to  sit  with  her  to  have  her  help  in 
his  readings.  He  was  much  fonder  of  her  exposition  of 
the  text  than  of  reading  it,  and  often  wondered  that  she 
knew  so  much  more  than  the  books.  One  day  she  startled 
him  with  a  little  cry  and  a  sudden  withdrawal  from  the 
window.  He  looked  out,  but  saw  only  a  country  vehicle 
with  a  large,  good-natured  man  on  the  seat  driving.  The 


A  MYSTIC  ROM  AUNT.  245 

vehicle  was  well  known  to  Norah.  Many  a  time  she  had 
sat  in  it,  and  the  man  was  to  her  the  greatest  terror  that 
innocence  can  know — her  lawless  lover,  Byron  Marbury. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

A    MYSTIC    ROMAUNT. 

AT  Marbury  Norah 's  cheerful  voice  was  the  first  morn 
ing  sound  that  mingled  with  the  revels  of  the  birds.  Sing 
ing  as  she  passed  from  the  pantry  to  the  dairy,  the  low 
notes  of  her  song  were  a  signal  to  Aunt  Selina  which  for 
years  had  regulated  the  rising  of  the  old  folks.  But  when 
six  o'clock  came,  the  morning  after  Amelia's  outbreak,  and 
Norah's  voice  was  unheard,  Aunt  Selina  arose  and,  having 
dressed  herself  hurriedly,  went  to  the  girl's  room.  Denny 
was  up  and  out,  and  the  yellow  sunlight  was  flooding  the 
gay  colors  of  the  rag  carpet.  Norah's  door  was  closed. 
Aunt  Selina  knocked,  and,  as  there  was  no  answer,  she 
opened  it  and  entered.  The  bed  Avas  undisturbed  ;  the 
room  was  in  perfect  order  ;  the  candle  was  burned  to  the 
socket,  but  Norah  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  The  undis 
turbed  bed  startled  Mrs.  Marbury,  and  she  sank  into  a 
chair,  faint  and  frightened.  Where  could  she  be  ?  Per 
haps  Denny  knew.  She  heard  his  voice  in  the  stable-yard 
placating  the  cows,  lowing  demonstratively  to  be  relieved 
of  their  burden  of  milk.  From  the  window  she  could 
watch  his  movements,  and,  as  he  led  the  horses  up  to  the 
watering-trough  near  the  garden-gate,  she  called  to  him. 
He  nodded  gayly,  and,  having  taken  the  horses  to  the  sta 
ble,  he  ran  through  the  thick  plantains,  scattering  swarms 
of  thrifty  bees  pillaging  their  succulent  stems.  His  face 


246  THE  ALIENS. 

was  aglow  with  his  early  morning  work,  and,  as  he  came 
under  the  window,  he  looked  up  eagerly  and  asked  : 

"  What  is  it,  Aunt  Selina  ?     Isn't  Norah  well  ? " 

"  Come  up  here  ;  I  want  you." 

But  Denny  was  as  mystified  as  she,  and,  at  the  end  of 
an  hour's  search  in  the  barn,  the  brook  glen,  and  the  or 
chard,  the  household  was  in  an  agony  of  alarm.  Even 
Amelia  looked  cowed  and  frightened  as  Byron  glared  at 
her  with  stern  questionings.  She  protested  that  she  knew 
nothing  of  Norah  ;  that  she  hadn't  seen  her  since  the  night 
before ;  and,  as  Byron  commented  on  this  with  an  incred 
ulous  shake  of  the  head,  she  fled  to  her  room  in  tears. 
Byron  questioned  Denny  as  to  the  places  where  Norah 
would  be  apt  to  seek  refuge.  None  but  James  Boyne's 
suggested  itself,  and  thither,  so  soon  as  a  hasty  breakfast 
had  been  swallowed,  the  two  hastened.  But  James  had 
been  dead  a  year;  his  widow  had  gone  to  her  family. 
Denny  lingered  about  the  place  two  or  three  days,  hoping 
that  Norah  would  come  to  inquire.  But  no  one  came. 
Byron  made  inquiries  along  all  the  highways  leading  from 
Marbury  to  Warchester ;  but,  as  Norah  had  kept  in  the 
fields,  he  discovered  no  trace.  One  farmer  had  seen  a 
young  girl,  that  answered  Norah's  description,  on  the  Bu- 
cephalo  road,  and  this  slender  trace  Byron  followed  twenty 
miles,  only  to  return  mystified  and  disheartened.  He 
came  for  Denny  on  the  third  day,  and,  carrying  him  to 
the  Caribee  tavern,  told  him  to  remain  there  until  he  had 
searched  the  whole  city :  to  take  each  street  in  turn, 
walk  through  from  end  to  end,  inquire,  and  keep  his  eyes 
open.  As  he  got  into  the  carriage  to  return  to  Marbury, 
he  asked  : 

"  Do  you  think  Norah  had  a  sweetheart  ? " 

"  Of  course  not !  Norah  is  too  bashful  to  look  at  a 
young  man.  Why,  when  she  came  with  me  to  the  school 


A  MYSTIC  ROM  AUNT.  247 

socials  she  wouldn't  dance  with  any  one,  and  the  boys 
called  her  '  dummy.'  " 

Byron  drove  away,  none  the  less  convinced  that  his 
suspicions  were  well  founded.  Norah,  he  felt  sure,  had 
flown  to  some  lover,  and  in  her  innocence  had  fallen  into 
a  trap  craftily  set  for  her.  He  ground  his  teeth  with  a 
ferocious  execration  as  he  returned  home  to  give  such 
comfort  as  he  could  to  his  mother.  Denny  began  his  mis 
erable  quest,  and  toiled  day  after  day  through  the  pretty 
umbrageous  highways  of  the  town.  Strange,  puzzling 
scenes  from  the  past  came  back  as  he  wandered  in  the 
net-work  of  leafy  alleys  surrounding  the  boys'  asylum.  He 
recalled  vaguely  the  dreadful  time  when  he  sat  at  those 
cheerless,  narrow  windows,  watching  for  the  dear  figure 
that  represented  all  the  love  of  life  and  the  world  to  him. 
But  his  search  was  quite  fruitless.  When  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  this,  he  determined  to  return  to  Marbury  and  seek 
the  lost  through  that  neighborhood. 

Until  this  he  had  borne  up,  stimulated  by  the  work 
prescribed.  Now,  however,  Norah 's  loss,  at  first  a  vague 
dread,  took  the  shape  of  finality.  He  would  see  her  no 
more  !  She  was  lost  to  him  as  the  murdered  mother, 
whose  gentle  life  withered  away  under  the  cruel  adversities 
of  want  and  desertion.  As  he  walked  along  the  dusty 
highway,  that  glimmered  in  the  hot  afternoon  sun,  his 
memory  was  filled  with  mirage-like  pictures.  He  saw  his 
mother  trudging  wearily  under  the  thick  clustering  branch 
es,  shunning  the  sight  of  her  kind,  or,  terrified  by  jeers 
and  menaces,  humbly  slipping  under  the  high  fences  to 
escape  pursuit.  Then  Norah  appeared,  as  he  saw  her 
that  happy  day  long  ago  at  the  Marbury  doorsill,  joy  in 
her  violet  eyes,  rapture  in  her  voice. 

"  Ah,  no.  She  is  not  gone  !  God  could  not  be  so  cruel 
to  the  orphan.  God  could  not  take  the  last  of  his  kin. 


248  THE  ALIENS. 

She  is  in  the  wood  ;  she  has  seen  the  mother,  and  they 
are  tramping  the  fields  to  do  penance  for  some  sin  to  the 
fairies." 

Denny  stopped  in  the  path.  He  had  reached  the  edge 
of  the  Marbury  woods.  He  had  spoken  aloud,  and  the 
echoes  of  his  voice  came  back  from  among  the  great  aisles 
of  oaks  as  though  some  one  were  answering  him.  All 
that  was  credulous  in  his  nature  was  instantly  receptive. 
Big  boy  as  he  was,  he  knelt  down  softly  and  laid  his  ear 
to  the  gnarled  roots  of  the  trees  before  him.  The  ground 
was  covered  with  fluffy  ferns  and  deep,  cushiony  moss. 
A  bevy  of  birds  in  the  branches  above  him  broke  into  a 
symphony  of  elfin  melody.  Denny  remained  transfixed. 
The  fibers  of  the  tree  vibrated  to  the  concentrated  pitch 
of  the  songsters,  and  the  dissonance  actually  took  on  the 
awing  musical  hum  that  startles  children  when  they  put 
their  ears  to  telegraph-poles.  Denny's  eyes  glistened  ;  the 
old  childish  yearnings  were  upon  him.  He  closed  his 
eyes  and  stretched  himself  out  at  full  length.  The  mon 
ody  spoke  to  him  now  intelligibly.  He  was  sure  that  his 
mother's  voice  was  coming  to  him.  A  lark  in  a  neighbor 
ing  meadow,  in  a  lull,  took  up  the  refrain,  sending  gur 
gling,  liquid  notes  of  enchantment  down  from  the  silver 
rim  of  a  passing  cloud  ;  then  the  choristers  in  the  trees  re 
sumed  : 

"Dilly." 

"  Norah." 

"  Denny — Dilly — Denny — Norah." 

The  rapt  listener  heard  these  words  as  plainly  as  you 
who  read  see  them.  In  an  impulse  of  irresistible  devo 
tion  he  embraced  the  tree,  crying  : 

"  O  fairy  friends  of  my  dead  mother,  comfort  my 
heart,  tell  me  where  to  seek  Norah  ;  tell  me — tell — "  His 
voice  faltered  and  he  looked  about  timidly  and  abashed. 


A  MYSTIC  ROM  AUNT. 


249 


Had  some  one  heard  him  ?  He  would  be  thought  mad  ! 
His  heart  gave  a  great  leap.  Mad !  Yes,  his  mother  had 
gone  mad  when  he  was  taken  from  her.  Was  he  going 
mad  now  that  Norah  was  lost  to  him  ?  Oh,  no  !  His 
mother  had  charged  him  that  while  he  trusted  in  the 
"  little  people  "  they  would  befriend  him  !  He  did  believe  ; 
yes,  if  they  bade  him  hang  his  coat  on  the  sunbeams,  he 
would  do  it !  But  perhaps  his  one  moment  of  skepticism, 
of  insulting  shame  and  disloyal  doubt,  had  broken  the 
spell,  and  his  fairy  kin  would  be  as  invisible  to  him  as  to 
the  boisterous  schoolmates  who  had  laughed  the  story  of 
their  reality  to  scorn  ?  He  flung  himself  on  the  moss 
again,  clasping  the  gnarled  roots  and  sobbing  piteously : 

"  I  do  believe  !  I  do  know  !  By  my  mother's  grave, 
I  believe.  Tell  me — tell  me  where  is  Norah  !  " 

"  Norah  !  " 

The  name  was  echoed  and  prolonged  in  a  chorus  of 
such  diverse  harmony  that  the  confiding  suppliant  almost 
swooned  with  a  joyous  realization  of  penance  accepted. 

"  Ah,  I  know  !  It  is  by  running  water  the  fairies  give 
the  sign  to  those  they  protect  !  " 

He  hurried  far  into  the  woods  until  he  reached  the 
brook  that  ran  in  limpid  pools  through  glades  and  hollows 
into  the  Caribee  miles  below.  In  happy  days  he  and 
Norah  had  often  sat  there  of  an  afternoon  and  under  the 
moonlight,  the  girl  reciting  the  weird  legends  of  her  race 
and  peopling  the  leafy  coverts  of  the  glen  with  "little 
people,"  to  whom  she  spoke  familarly — as  is  the  childish 
custom  in  many  parts  of  Ireland.  He  was  in  a  vernal 
crypt,  the  perfection  of  such  cunning  construction  as  Na 
ture  alone  can  do.  Seen  through  tender  shades  of  green, 
gray  lines  of  rock  ;  so  gray  that  their  surface  seemed  at 
mosphere  ;  so  solemn  that  Denny  whispered  : 

"  Sentinels  to  guard  the  elves  !  " 


250  THE  ALIENS. 

But  as  he  pushed  on  they  seemed  to  mingle  with  the  foli 
age,  which  took  on  a  graceful  movement  of  its  own,  to  the 
cadence  of  soft  music  set  loose  by  the  breeze  or  the  flut 
tering  of  restless  birds.  Denny  lies  flat  on  the  sward,  and 
gazes  with  earnest,  anxious  questioning,  Narcissus-like, 
into  the  pebbly  deeps,  for  a  sign.  He  is  perfectly  sober 
in  this  dryad  rite.  It  would  have  seemed  more  curious 
to  him  not  to  believe  than  for  you  or  me  to  watch  him  as 
he  betrays  in  his  mature  youth  the  credulity  of  his  child 
hood.  Where  misery  does  not  harden  or  pervert,  it 
leaves  the  heart  very  soft  and  the  soul  very  expan 
sive.  Denny's  heart  was  very  tender,  and  his  intellect, 
though  strong,  tenacious  of  the  mystic  rubric  of  his 
race. 

However,  if  you  are  tempted  to  discredit  the  realism 
of  this  spectacle,  or  weary  yourself  at  the  exhibition  of 
this  lad's  childishness,  let  me  remind  you  that  the  most 
cultivated  races,  the  races  from  whom  our  arts  and  litera 
ture  come,  were  for  centuries  the  disciples  of  just  the 
sort  of  superstition  that  held  this  boy's  mind.  Turn  to 
your  Homer — turn  to  your  classics — if  you  are  tempted  to 
become  impatient  with  this  dreamer.  Csesar  would  not 
fight  a  battle  until  the  auspices  had  presaged  from  the  en 
trails  of  an  animal !  Denny  looked  up  from  the  water  and 
searched  the  leafy  covert.  A  restful  sense  of  the  sanctity 
of  the  place  stole  over  him,  and  he  knelt  bareheaded  on 
the  purple,  coral-dotted  moss.  He  felt  himself  as  abso 
lutely  a  devotee  as  the  Moor  in  the  Mosque  of  Cordova, 
even  though  the  priests  of  Islam  no  longer  chant  the  word 
of  the  Koran. 

In  this  tranquil  world  the  rocks,  the  trees,  the  brook, 
were  all  friendly  forms,  and  their  music,  though  unheard, 
filled  his  soul  like  so  many  mystic  ministers  of  the  vernal 
academy,  teaching  a  robuster  philosophy  than  books  or 


A  MYSTIC  ROM  AUNT.  2$l 

schools.  He  had  always  been  at  his  happiest  in  the  woods, 
and  heard  understandingly  the  language  of  its  many  name 
less  tribes,  now  consoling  sprites  to  unlock  the  secret  of  his 
misery.  Such  visions  as  he  had  known  in  these  secluded 
shades  !  He  always  spoke  of  them  with  reluctance,  ex 
cept  to  Norah.  Such  joys,  such  revelations,  such  com- 
munings,  should  have  a  vehicle  of  expression  far  beyond 
the  stale  forms  of  our  mortal  tongue.  Sometimes  he  read 
messages  in  the  curves  of  the  leaves,  in  the  arabesques  of 
the  greensward,  or  the  bending  shapes  of  the  twigs — pre 
cious  secrets  between  himself  and  the  demure  deities  of 
the  sylvan  temple. 

And  then  the  rocks — so  grim,  yet  kindly  ;  so  shapely, 
yet  so  deformed — they  welcomed  believers  like  Denny  to 
mossy  cushions,  where  their  spreading  bosoms  were  laid 
bare.  Then  the  great  fissures,  where,  Denny  never  made 
a  doubt,  awful  conclaves  were  held  by  the  secret  black 
and  grewsome  forces  that  contended  with  the  good  spir 
its  !  Denny  has  trodden  every  inch  of  the  coral  mosses, 
the  arbutus-leaves,  and  wintergreen  that  carpet  the  rugged 
crests  of  these  unterrifying  monsters,  and  he  turns  to 
each  familiar  beauty  now  to  appeal  for  the  lost  Norah — 
she  that  knew  all  these  dumb  friends,  and  worshiped  far 
more  sincerely  at  their  altar  than  he.  To  tell  the  truth, 
the  place  had  often  filled  the  lad  with  an  exquisite  pain,  a 
sweet  unrest.  His  soul  was  so  susceptible  to  the  fantastic 
jocundity  of  idealities  attached  to  the  place  that  he  never 
came  without  resolving  to  give  up  the  grosser  realities  of 
daily  endeavor,  to  think  no  more  of  books  or  a  career,  to 
turn  his  forces  to  bread-getting  in  the  most  primitive  way, 
and  his  brain  to  feasting  on  these  imperishable  forms  of 
loveliness.  But  now  he  scanned  the  glistening  leaves  for 
a  sign  that  should  lead  him  to  the  lost  girl.  As  he  sat, 
the  air  grew  heavy  and  the  sun  was  hidden  under  a  cloud. 


252 


THE  ALIENS. 


He  was  unconscious  of  the  time  that  passed,  but  he  heard 
as  if  a  whisper  at  his  ear  : 

"  Norah." 

It  was  quite  dusk  now.  He  looked  about  eagerly.  He 
must  have  fallen  into  a  doze,  for  the  beams  of  the  sun  now 
penetrated  in  slanting  rays,  and  he  could  have  fancied  the 
broad  yellow  splashes  a  pathway,  through  the  glistening 
green,  to  the  clouds. 

"  Norah  !  "  he  called,  "  Norah  !  where  are  you  ?  O 
Norah,  it's  Denny.  Come  back — come  back  !  No  one  shall 
harm  you,  no  one  shall  mistrust  you  again  !  O  my  God, 
my  God  !  Must  I  give  her  up  !  " 

A  cat-bird  in  the  bush  behind  him  piped  gayly : 

"  No— rah,  No— rah,  No— rah !  " 

It  was  one  of  a  brood  that  his  sister  had  rescued,  and 
the  creature  fed  from  her  hand  when  she  came  from  the 
pool.  Denny  turned  from  the  bird,  his  eyes  swimming 
with  tears,  and  his  glance  fell  on  the  water.  Whether  it 
was  a  disturbed  brain  or  whether  he  imagined  it,  he  saw  a 
pretty  bed  with  a  blue  chintz  cover,  and  Norah  kneeling 
with  her  face  raised  in  joy.  He  started,  but  the  waters 
rippled  on.  A  large  white  lily  lay  on  the  surface,  and  he 
bent  down  and  plucked  it. 

"  It  is  in  the  running  water,  and  that  was  my  mother's 
sign.  Norah  is  not  hurt  !  She  is  safe  somewhere  !  But 
where  ?  " 

He  moved  with  buoyant  alacrity  now  he  had  the 
sign.  Perhaps  she  was  home  !  He  hastened  to  Marbury  ; 
but  there  were  gloom  and  silence.  Yes,  it  must  be  !  Why 
hadn't  he  thought  of  it  before  ?  Norah  was  with  Dilly 
Dane.  He  turned  crimson  as  the  thought  shot  into  his 
head.  What  more  natural !  She  had  fled  from  Amelia's 
torturing  tongue,  her  vile  suspicions,  to  the  gentle  Dilly. 
It  was  supper-time  when  he  came  to  this  conclusion,  and, 


A  MYSTIC  ROM  AUNT.  253 

in  spite  of  Deacon  Dane's  command,  he  set  out  afterward 
to  try  the  last  hope.  It  was  just  dark  as  he  came  in  the 
back  way,  through  the  fields,  which  shortened  the  route 
from  Marbury.  He  heard  Tom  singing  in  the  barn,  and 
his  heart  thumped  so  hard  when  he  reached  the  porch 
that  he  did  not  hear  a  soft  voice  at  the  window  chanting 
a  lullaby.  The  jangling  of  the  cow-bells  in  the  barn-yard 
sounded  loud  and  threatening  in  his  ears.  The  frogs  in 
the  neighboring  meadow  ran  the  gamut  of  their  musical 
madness  as  he  stood  irresolute  on  the  white  porch.  There 
were  no  lights.  Prudent  wives  circumvented  the  night 
insects  by  leaving  the  interior  in  darkness  of  a  summer 
evening.  The  doors  were  all  open,  and  now  he  heard  the 
voice  and  the  soft  accents  of  the  song.  It  was  Dilly's, 
and  his  heart,  it  seemed  to  him,  stood  quite  still.  He  made 
a  noise  with  his  feet,  hoping  to  attract  her  attention  ;  but 
she  gave  no  heed.  He  desperately  stepped  to  the  door- 
sill,  and,  as  he  raised  his  hand  to  knock  on  the  post,  Dilly 
said,  without  turning  around  : 

"  Is  that  you,  Tom  ?  I  thought  you  had  gone  for 
mother." 

"It  is  I,  Dilly— Denis." 

"  O  Denny !  I — I — I'm  so  glad  to  see  you.  I  thought 
it  was  Tom.  Won't  you  come  in  and  sit  down  ?  Or  shall 
we  sit  in  the  darkness  on  the  porch  ? " 

Denny  remained  quite  dumb  to  all  these  queries,  and 
the  maiden  drew  a  chair  for  him  near  the  window ;  he 
sank  into  it  murmuring  he  knew  not  what.  There  was  no 
sign  of  Norah,  and  his  temples  throbbed  under  the  con 
tradictory  and  conflicting  emotions  :  joy,  at  being  near  his 
darling ;  guilt,  that  Norah's  quest  was  now  a  secondary 
sentiment  in  his  heart.  Dilly  didn't  notice  his  agitation, 
and  asked  how  the  folks  were  at  Marbury.  This  brought 
the  guilty  lad  to  a  consciousness  of  his  infidelity,  and  he 


254  THE  ALIENS. 

broke  into  sobs  as  he  told  of  Norah's  strange  absence,  and 
the  hope  that  he  had  of  finding  her  with  Dilly.  The  girl 
was  silent  for  a  long  time,  and  Denny  had  recovered  his 
presence  of  mind  when  she  said  : 

"  I  don't  think  any  harm  can  have  come  to  her,  Den 
ny.  I  think  I  know  her  feeling.  She  is  outraged  at 
Amelia's  miserable  suspicion,  and  she  has  gone  from  the 
house  to  escape  her  persecution.  She  knows  that  if  you 
knew  where  she  is  Byron  would  watch  you,  or  force  you 
to  betray  her,  and  she  is  keeping  concealed  for  the  pres 
ent.  You  may  be  sure  I  am  right.  It  is  just  what  I 
should  do." 

"  O  Dilly,  what  a  relief  this  gives  me  !  I  ought  to  have 
thought  of  this  myself,  but  I  have  been  quite  out  of  my 
head  since  we  missed  her  ;  Byron  has  been  so  fierce  and 
overpowering  that  I  have  given  way  to  him.  You've 
described  exactly  the  way  Norah  would  act.  She  is  so 
timid  and  distrustful  that  she  would  be  capable  of  think 
ing  that  I  would  urge  her  to  stay  where  she  was  not  wel 
come.  She  is  wrong.  Whatever  she  thinks  for  the  best 
I  would  do,  and  do  gladly.  Indeed,  Dilly,  it  was  partly  to 
tell  you  of  my  resolution  to  leave  Marbury  that  I  came 
over  to-night." 

"  To  leave  Marbury,  Denny  !  "  she  faltered.  Even  the 
preoccupied  lad  could  detect  the  tremor;  his  heart  gave 
a  great  throb  of  joyous  recognition. 

"  I  am,  I  know,  doing  wrong  to  talk  of  myself  to  you, 
Dilly,  for  I  as  good  as  pledged  myself  to  Tom  never  to 
speak  to  you  of  myself  or  what  I  feel."  He  halted,  stam 
mered,  and  rose  to  his  feet.  The  moon  was  skirting  the 
dark  wall  of  trees  to  the  southward,  where  the  rush  of  the 
Caribee  could  be  heard  tumbling  over  the  lower  rapids. 
The  voices  of  the  summer  night  stole  in  melodious  and 
tranquilizing.  The  dark  shadows  of  playful  bats  shot 


A  MYSTIC  ROM  AUNT. 


255 


past  the  open  window ;  the  swallows  under  the  eaves  twit 
tered  as  the  marauding  owls  flapped  their  whirring  wings 
on  the  boughs  over  them. 

For  the  first  time  Denny  realized  that  Dilly  was  alone 
in  the  house.  The  sense  of  isolation  filled  him  with  a 
guilty  impulse  to  disregard  his  pledge,  to  make  a  com 
pact  with  Dilly,  to  ask  her  love,  and  mutually  help  each 
other  by  the  confession.  But  the  instinct  of  honor,  the 
intuition  of  faithfulness,  held  him  back.  He  had  been  re 
jected  even  before  the  asking  by  Dilly 's  father,  and  it 
would  be  cruel  to  put  her  in  the  attitude  of  disregarding 
the  father's  wishes.  He  came  again  to  her  side.  The 
moon  now  shone.  Its  light  was  clear  and  strong.  The 
glow  in  Dilly's  eyes  told  him  that  she  was  deeply  moved. 
He  would  have  sat  silent  in  that  delicious  contiguity  for 
ever.  All  that  Norah  was  to  him,  all  that  the  memory  of 
his  mother  taught  him  of  the  adorable  in  womanhood, 
Denny  identified  with  Dilly.  To  the  wondrous  products 
of  the  processes  of  to-day  Dilly  would  seem,  I  fear,  a  tame 
and  undelighting  personality.  But  all  times  have  their 
manners  and  measures.  To  Denny  she  was  to  be  sung 
and  worshiped  as  the  troubadours  sang  and  worshiped  the 
lovely  damosels  that  bent  out  from  high  casements  and 
wafted  surreptitious  signs  of  favor  to  the  bannered  steeds 
and  plumed  swains,  secreted  under  the  friendly  shadow  of 
my  lord's  ancestral  forest. 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  suppose  Dilly  was  the  sort 
of  girl  you  would  see  in  any  well-to-do  country-side,  sixty 
or  seventy  years  ago,  or,  for  that  matter,  to-day,  though 
there  are  few  farmsteads  that  are  not  better  provided  with 
the  means  of  cultivation  and  the  possibilities  of  refine 
ment  than  were  found  in  homes  as  well  to  do  and  even 
" genteel"  as  Deacon  Dane's.  There  was  none  of  the 
dynamic  quality  of  inner  motive  or  strong  purpose  in 


256  THE  ALIENS. 

Dilly's  equable  mind.  She  adored  her  father,  she  saw  the 
practical  teachings  of  generations  of  worldly  wisdom 
illustrated  in  the  thrift  of  her  parent's  acres,  and  the  con 
sideration  in  which  the  family  name  was  held. 

She  saw  that  all  these  were  good,  and  she  would  have 
gone  uncomplainingly  into  the  sordid  mating  of  her  un 
aspiring  surroundings,  I  think,  if  destiny  had  not  given  her 
mind  time  to  realize  the  difference  between  them  and 
Denny's  charm  of  mind  and  purity  of  heart.  Her  senti 
mental  nature  appealed  to,  Dilly  was  as  devotedly  and 
irrevocably  true  to  the  sanctified  creed  of  love  as  the 
transcendentalist  Denny  himself.  There  were  no  heroic 
outbreaks  in  the  processes  that  worked  out  the  scheme  of 
Dilly's  heart  history,  or,  for  that  matter,  in  any  of  the 
people  whose  simple  vicissitudes  I  am  reviving.  There 
has  always  seemed  to  me  something  helpful  as  well  as 
pathetic  in  a  study  of  the  incongruous  conditions  of  the 
simply  chivalric,  ignobly  prejudiced  group ;  inevitable 
outcomes  of  enforced  conditions,  homely  joys,  and  un 
merited  sorrows,  that  reveal  the  secret  channels  through 
which  the  current  of  every  man's  destiny  runs. 

At  this  time  in  their  lives  Dilly  loved  her  timid  lover 
with  something  of  the  dazed  incomprehension  of  Elsa 
when  the  Swan  Knight  led  her  from  the  altar.  Denny's 
robust  frame,  quick  wit,  and  inextinguishable  good-humor, 
contrasted  with  his  feminine  implicitness  in  accepting  the 
mysterious  marvels  of  fairy-land,  wrought  a  sort  of  super 
stitious  uncertainty  in  the  more  skeptic  mind  of  Dilly  ; 
while,  with  a  characteristic  contradiction,  she  was  the 
fonder  and  more  entirely  his  own  for  it.  I  don't  under 
take  to  explain  this  perversity.  Possibly  you  will  com 
prehend  it  better  as  the  tale  is  told. 

Meanwhile,  Dilly  had  been  thinking  of  Denny,  and 
vaguely  trying  to  identify  him  with  his  own  heroes  in  the 


A  MYSTIC  ROM  AUNT. 


257 


fairy-tales,  before  she  confided  what  she  had  on  her  mind 
to  say.  She  invited  him  nearer  by  a  gesture,  and  said, 
with  tender  decision  : 

"I  owe  it  to  you,  Denny,  to  tell  you  something. 
Knowing  you  as  well  as  I  do,  I  know  that  you  would 
never  take  the  matter  in  your  own  hands,  for,  as  we  of 
another  race  think,  it  is  right  for  young  people  to  act  for 
themselves.  I  know  what  Tom  told  you,  and  I  know 
what  you  promised."  She  slipped  her  hand  into  his. 
"  But,  Denny,  it  was  by  no  wish  of  mine,  and  I  told  my 
father  quite  frankly  that  the  life  I  owed  your  heroism 
should  be  yours  if  you  asked  it,  as  my  heart  had  been 
yours  long  before  I  came  to  know  I  had  a  heart." 

These  last  words  were  uttered  in  a  smothered  sob, 
as  Denny,  with  a  cry  of  rapture,  drew  the  golden  head 
down  on  his  breast  and  pressed  his  lips  to  the  white  fore 
head, 

"Ah,  my  darling,  my  darling  !  " 

"I  have  told  father  that  I  can  never  love  any  one 
else ;  that  when — "  she  started.  Tom's  voice  sounded 
under  the  window,  and  his  tall  form  intercepted  the  silver 
sheen  of  moonlight. 

"  I  say,  Dill,  don't  you  want  to  walk  down  to  Kennel's 
with  me  for  mother?  The  walk  will  do  you  good." 

Dilly  rose  in  a  nutter.  "  Come  in,  Tom  ;  Denny  is 
here." 

The  young  men  shook  hands  rather  perfunctorily. 
Tom  was  much  more  embarrassed  than  the  lover,  for  he 
felt  the  consciousness  of  treason  in  his  heart.  He  had 
gone  further  than  his  text  in  the  famous  embassy  to  the 
forbidden  suitor,  and  he  felt  that  the  lovers  had  detected 
his  treason.  The  conversation  was  monosyllabic  during 
the  next  few  minutes,  until  Tom  suddenly  remembered 
his  mother,  and  got  up  to  go.  The  three  walked  down 


258  THE  ALIENS. 

the  turfy  walk  to  the  road,  and  as  they  reached  it  a  heavy 
wagon  was  turning  into  the  lane. 

"  There  is  father!"  exclaimed  Tom,  and  hurried  for 
ward  to  relieve  him  of  the  horses.  The  old  gentleman 
came  up  to  his  daughter  and  Denny,  evidently  aware  of 
the  latter's  presence,  for  he  said,  in  loud,  even  tones, 
wholly  devoid  of  surprise  or  ill  intent : 

"  You  are  there,  are  you,  Denis,  my  lad  ?  Glad  to  see 
you ! " 

He  gftve  the  young  man  a  hard,  expressionless  hand, 
and  passed  up  the  walk  without  another  word. 

"  I  must  go  and  get  father  a  little  supper,  and  we  must 
say  good-by,"  Dilly  said,  her  hand  in  Denny's. 

"  I  am  very  happy,  Dilly.  I  have  the  courage  of  an 
army  now.  I  ask  no  more  than  you  have  given  me.  God 
bless  and  keep  you." 

The  long  walk  over  the  fields  was  filled  with  a  world 
of  fantastic  creations  as  Denny  stalked  along  in  the  clear 
light,  his  mind  in  a  whirl  of  delicious  perplexities.  It  was 
not  until  he  sat  in  Norah's  empty  room,  and  the  woe  of 
her  loss  came  back,  that  he  returned  to  reality.  And,  as 
he  knelt  beside  her  empty  bed,  there  was  strange  inconse 
quence  in  the  sobbing  prayer  that  went  up  from  his 
agitated  heart. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

DARCY    GAINS   A    VICTORY. 

BYRON  marked  Denny's  manner  the  next  day  with 
surprise  and  suspicion.  He  instantly  came  to  the  con 
clusion  that  the  brother  knew  the  sister's  whereabouts,  and 


DARCY  GAINS  A    VICTORY.  259 

was  in  the  plot  to  keep  the  secret  from  him.  He  knew 
Denny  too  well  to  imagine  that  threat  or  menace  would 
shake  his  determination,  and  he  instantly  set  himself  to 
devise  a  stratagem  which  should  betray  the  secret.  His 
wits  were  not  swift,  though  when  once  at  work  they  were 
what  is  called  sharp  in  unschooled  societies.  He  sug 
gested,  later  in  the  day,  that  Denny  should  return  to  War- 
chester,  and  "keep  an  eye  on  the  farmers  coming  to  and 
going  from  town,  as  it  was  market-day,  and  if  Norah  had 
joined  another  family  she  would  be  likely  to  go  to  market, 
as  she  was  good  at  disposing  of  the  pretty  pats  of  butter 
she  took  such  pride  in  making." 

Denny,  nothing  loath,  set  off,  and  entered  the  city  near 
the  Warchester  lane.  As  he  passed  down  the  wide  avenue 
whereon  the  porticoes  of  the  Warchester  mansion  glistened 
from  end  to  end,  a  light  cabriolet  came  in  front  of  him  at 
the  street-crossing.  Looking  up  abstractedly,  he  recog 
nized  Darcy  with  Lady  Molly,  who  was  driving.  He 
took  off  his  cap  and  stood  bareheaded,  bowing,  with  the 
first  gleam  of  comfort  he  had  known  since  Norah's  disap 
pearance.  Lady  Molly  recognized  him,  pulled  up  the 
horses,  and  held  out  her  hand. 

"  And  how  are  ye,  my  foine  lad,  and  the  good  folks  of 
Marbury  ?  How  are  they  all  ? " 

Denny,  shaking  the  hand  cordially  held  out  by  Darcy, 
told  with  suppressed  sobs  the  new  trouble  that  had  come 
upon  the  country  home. 

"  Dear,  O  dear,  poor  child  !  poor  child  !  Get  in  here, 
my  dear  bye,  and  come  home  with  us  for  a  bit  of  dinner. 
Take  comfort,  Denny,  boy,  take  comfort !  We'll  leave 
no  stone  unturned  to  find  that  pretty  girl.  She's  not  for 
such  a  world  as  this,  at  all,  at  all." 

Denny  got  into  the  vehicle,  and,  as  it  whirled  along, 
he  related  all  the  painful  incidents  leading  to  the  flight. 


260  THE  ALIENS. 

Darcy's  face  was  averted  after  the  first  start  and  change 
of  color  on  the  mention  of  the  jewels.  Absorbed  in  the 
pitiful  tale,  Lady  Molly  had  not  remarked  Darcy's  agitation. 
Denny,  who  did  notice  it,  felt  his  heart  warming  to  the 
kind  young  fellow  at  his  very  evident  sympathy  for  Norah's 
misfortunes.  Darcy  was  relieved  when  the  harrowing  tale 
was  finished,  and  saw  no  cause  for  alarm  so  far  as  his  own 
handiwork  was  involved.  Norah  was  probably  at  some 
neighboring  farm-house.  "  She  would,"  he  said  decisively, 
"  be  discovered  so  soon  as  a  systematic  search  was  set  on 
foot."  Under  the  impulse  of  this  re-assurance,  Denny's 
heart  grew  light,  and  Lady  Molly,  turning  to  Darcy,  said 
soberly : 

"  Norah's  a  wise  lass,  Denny,  me  dear,  and  ye  need 
have  no  fear  of  her.  I'll  go  bail  it's  to  get  beyond  the 
sharp  tongue  of  Mrs.  Byron  the  child's  made  off.  She's 
not  gone  that  far,  ye  may  believe,  that,  if  anything  befell 
Denny  or  her  Aunt  Selina,  the  child  couldn't  come  te 
them  as  quick  as  Dick  Maginnis  to  the  coort  when  the 
judge  gav'  sintence  of  death  to  his  sweetheart  for  murther- 
ing  him." 

"I  suppose  the  lady-love  broke  his  heart.  That's 
murder  in  Irish,  isn't  it,  Lady  Molly  ? "  Darcy  asked, 
naively. 

"Ye'd  make  a  jest,  ye  villian,  if  ye  were  up  till  yer 
neck  in  the  bog  of  Arran,"  cries  my  lady,  laughing;  then 
adds,  smiling  at  Denny,  who  was  plainly  high  in  her  whim 
sical  good  graces,  "Do  you  know,  me  lad,  this  boy  Denis 
has  a  sister  that  would  make  a  saint  pass  the  open  door  of 
paradise,  and  a  sinner  like  you  commit  murther  ?  " 

"Wouldn't  that  depend  somewhat  on  the  paradise? 
Not  Lady  Poultney's,  for  example,  or  the  murder  of  her 
peace  of  mind  !  "  Darcy  said,  with  affected  temerity  at  a 
homage  so  outspoken. 


DARCY  GAINS  A    VICTORY.  26l 

"  Begone,  ye  blarneyin'  Rap  !  Is  it  for  an  ould  mar 
ried  woman  like  me  to  hear  such  talk  ?  I'm  ashamed  of 
ye,  so  I  am.  I'm  old  enough  to  be  your  mother." 

"  Well,  since  you  can't  be  my  mother-in-law,  I  must 
be  satisfied  with  that." 

Lady  Molly  tossed  her  head,  by  no  means  displeased 
with  the  ardent  though  melancholy  glance  of  the  handsome 
flatterer,  and  turned  to  Denny. 

"  'Twas  heavy  on  me  soul  this  many  a  day  that  I  didn't 
take  Norah  away  from  that  house  whin  the  poor  Docther 
died.  And  I  had  it  in  my  mind  to  do  it,  too,  so  I  did, 
but  off  we  wint  to  New  York,  and  I'm  only  back  now. 
But  we'll  find  her,  and  she  shall  never  leave  us,  me  bye, 
mark  that !  " 

"  When  we  carry  off  beauty  it  must  be  on  the  heart, 
not  the  mind,  my  lady !  "  interposed  Darcy.  "  For  ex 
ample,  when  you  were  carried  off  it  took  mind  and  heart ; 
but  then  you  are  a  law  to  others  and  lawless  to  yourself." 

"Ye  wicked,  honey-tongued  rogue,  let  me  lord  hear 
yer  impudence,  and  it's  a  wake,  not  a  wedding,  that  yer 
muther'll  have  on  her  mind  !  Hould  yer  tongue  till  I  have 
me  say  out  to  Denny  here  !  " 

"  If  you  don't  have  your  say  it  won't  be  for  the  want 
of  letting,  as  my  lord  can  attest !  "  retorts  the  incorrigible 
railer,  and  Lady  Molly  shuts  him  out  of  the  conversation 
with  her  sunshade. 

Denny  recited  the  events  which  had  come  to  pass  since 
the  melancholy  day  of  the  Poultneys's  visit. 

"  And  the  poor  child  was  there  all  alone  in  that  dread 
ful  house  of  death  !  Oh,  what  a  wicked  villian  I  am  ! 
She  sha'n't  stay  there  another  day  when  she's  found.  Who's 
to  hinder  me  from  taking  her  meself  ?  I  will  do  it  the 
very  minute  Poultney  comes  back,  so  I  will.  She  shall 
live  with  me  and  be  my  adopted  daughter." 


262  THE  ALIENS. 

"  Then  you'll  have  to  put  a  label  on  yourself  when 
you're  together,  so  that  people  will  know  which  is  the 
mother  and  which  the  daughter !  "  cries  Darcy  behind  the 
sunshade. 

"  Hold  yer  tongue,  impudence.  Now,  Denis,  come 
home  and  have  dinner  with  us.  The  minute  ye  find 
Norah  I'll  come  to  her  meself  !  "  and  the  honest  soul,  de 
lighted  with  her  own  decisive  measures,  lowered  the  silken 
rampart,  and  invoked  Master  Darcy's  shafts  to  their  full 
extent. 

"  I  was  going  to  call  at  your  house,  Mr.  Darcy,  to  see 
you.  I  made  so  bold  as  to  believe  that  you  would  not 
think  me  intruding  to  ask  you  to  recommend  me  for  some 
thing  to  do,"  Denny  said. 

"  Of  course  he  will.  What  is  the  beggar  good  for  if 
he  can't  get  something  for  a  fine  likely  b'y  as  yourself  to 
do  ?  It's  as  good  as  settled.  Here  we  are  at  the  steps, 
and  never  a  man  with  the  decency  to  hand  me  down  from 
me  carriage,"  and,  before  either  of  the  abashed  youths 
could  offer  a  hand,  she  was  out  and  laughing  at  their  dis 
comfiture. 

Denny  had  never  been  in  a  grand  house  before,  and 
he  was  quite  dazed  by  the  solemn  grandeur,  which  his  taste 
had  not  been  educated  as  yet  to  detect  as  ugly  and  pre 
tentious.  The  walls  were  a  dead  white,  the  moldings  gilt, 
and  the  furniture  a  dull  mahogany.  The  carpets  were  in 
staring  patterns,  prodigious  flowers,  and  fantastic  borders, 
that  gave  the  large  rooms  the  appearance  of  flower-beds 
in  which  gigantic  blossoms  had  been  crushed,  leaving  only 
their  outlines  on  the  fiery  groundwork.  The  servants  were 
in  livery ;  Denny  thought  they  were  soldiers  at  first,  and 
shrank  abashed  when  one  of  them  came  forward  to  take 
his  hat.  He  was  shown  up  a  broad  staircase  to  a  large 
room  overlooking  vast  gardens ;  and  Darcy,  who  was  in  an 


DARCY  GAINS  A    VICTORY.  263 

adjoining  room,  came  to  the  door  and,  knocking,  entered 
without  waiting  for  a  response. 

"  I  have  been  thinking  over  your  matter,  Denny,  and  I 
will  see  my  father  when  I  get  home.  I  am  sure  something 
can  be  done." 

"I  shall  be  most  grateful.  You  know  the  Doctor's 
death  has  been  a  blow  to  my  prospects  as  well  as  a  sad 
ness.  I  was  to  have  entered  college  this  fall." 

"Were  you,  indeed ?     Where  did  you  prepare ? " 

"At  Calao  and  at  home.  I'm  ready  for  the  junior 
year." 

"Ton  my  soul,  you're  ahead  of  me,  for  I  couldn't 
stand  an  exam,  for  fresh." 

"Yes,  but  you've  been  graduated  from  West  Point." 

"Ah,  that  was  merely  a  technical  cram.  By  the  way, 
I  think  that  a  good  idea  of  Lady  Molly's  for  your  sister. 
She's  an  impulsive,  kind-hearted  woman,  and,  though  she's 
forgetful,  she'll  do  all  she  says.  You  mustn't  let  her  forget 
her  proposal." 

"  Ah,  it's  too  good  to  be  true  !  She  never  saw  Norah 
but  once,  and  doesn't  know  what  a  noble,  sweet  girl  she 
is.  If  she  did,  I  should  feel  more  certain  of  her  keeping 
her  word." 

"You  need  have  no  fear.     I'll  keep  her  in  mind  of  it." 

"  Will  you  ?  How  good  you  are  !  God  bless  you  !  " 
and  Denny  seized  Darcy's  hand. 

"  Pshaw,  my  boy,  you  make  too  much  of  trifles ; 
why  shouldn't  any  one  who  had  seen  N — your  sister 
speak  for  her ;  I'm  sure  I  thought  her  a  very  well-bred, 
fine  girl  !  "  He  turned  away  as  he  said  this.  Somehow 
the  honest  adoration  in  Denny's  eyes  brought  the  dead 
face  of  Dr.  Marbury  before  him  as  Lady  Molly  had  de 
scribed  it,  when  the  poor  widow  brought  the  body 

home. 

12 


264  THE  ALIENS. 

At  the  dinner  Denny's  wonder  grew.  He  had  never 
seen  wine  on  the  table,  and  was  greatly  embarrassed  when 
the  silent  menial  in  buttons  poured  the  red  Burgundy  out 
into  the  glistening  crystal.  He  would  have  been  more 
embarrassed  if  Darcy,  remembering  Denny's  home  ways, 
hadn't  said,  "  Denis,  you  don't  drink  wine  in  your  virtu 
ous  country  home.  For  that  matter,  only  the  godless  in 
town  drink  it  at  dinner.  There  are  not  a  dozen  houses  in 
the  city  where  it's  set  on  the  tables.  Lady  Molly  will  not 
be  offended  if  you  stick  to  home  ways  and  neglect  your 
wine." 

Denny  gave  him  a  grateful  glance,  and  the  wine  stood 
untasted.  He  was  surprised  at  his  own  self-possession 
under  circumstances  so  wholly  outside  of  his  experience. 
For,  though  a  well-bred  family,  Dr.  Marbury's  honest 
table  gave  him  no  opportunity  to  learn  how  subsidiary  a 
part  of  the  feast  the  eating  is.  Lady  Molly's  kindliness 
made  up  for  the  lack  of  that  graceful  tact  with  which 
women  of  the  world  know  how  to  invest  the  scene  when 
company  is  bizarre  or  not  homogeneous.  Denny  forgot  the 
grandeur  of  the  two  great  folks,  and  his  droll  comments 
and  modest  essays,  in  answer  to  the  covert  banter  of 
Darcy,  set  the  merry  mistress  of  the  feast  into  peals  of  in 
fectious  laughter.  When  she  dismissed  the  young  men  at 
the  end  of  the  dinner,  Darcy  accompanied  Denny  some 
way  on  his  homeward  route. 

"I  think  you  are  very  lucky  to  have  gained  Lady 
Molly's  good-will — both  you  and  your  sister.  She  will  be 
a  most  kind  friend  to  Norah,  who  is  far  too  pretty  a  girl 
to  be  left  among  country  bumpkins."  Then,  suddenly 
bethinking  himself  that  it  was  imprudent  to  admit  that  he 
had  noticed  the  girl,  he  added,  "  I  mean  a  girl  who  had 
the  advantage  of  such  guardianship  as  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Mar 
bury's." 


DARCY  GAINS  A    VICTORY.  26$ 

"  Yes,"  Denny  answered,  eagerly,  "  Norah  is  a  very 
good  girl." 

"  As  for  yourself,"  said  Darcy,  looking  at  the  other  ad 
miringly,  "  you  ought  to  make  something  of  yourself,  I 
will  do  my  best  to  open  the  way  for  you." 

"  You  sha'n't  have  cause  to  be  sorry  for  it,  you  may  be 
sure,"  replied  Denny,  gratefully. 

Darcy  was  about  to  say  something  more,  but  halting, 
as  they  came  to  the  street  crossing  the  Rialto  bridge,  he 
held  out  his  hand,  bade  the  other  good-night,  and  saun 
tered  in  the  direction  of  his  home. 

It  was  still  early  twilight,  and  Darcy  lingered  pensively 
under  the  shadows,  watching  the  arrowy  shafts  of  ver 
milion  breaking  in  great  waves  over  the  western  sky.  He 
came  presently  to  the  Blue  Jay,  whose  pretty  veranda  was 
thronged  with  the  neighborhood  gossips.  Their  gayety 
arrested  his  attention,  and  he  let  his  glance  wander  down 
to  them.  As  he  slackened  his  step,  a  lad's  voice  behind 
him  asked,  in  that  suppressed,  awed  tone  children  em 
ploy  when  their  imagination  is  at  play  : 

"  But  how  can  the  fairies  tell  whether  we  are  good  or 
not  ?  They  live  in  the  woods,  and  they  can't  see  us  while 
we  are  in  the  cellar  or  pantry  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  Manly,  the  fairies  are  given  power  to  read 
our  consciences  as  we  read  books.  Our  consciences  al 
ways  put  down  what  we  do  that  is  not  right,  and  then  the 
fairies  keep  the  record  and  punish  us  in  the  ways  that  are 
hardest  for  each  one  of  us  to  bear." 

All  the  blood  in  Darcy's  body  seemed  to  rush  to  his 
head.  He  came  to  a  full  stop  as  the  boy  and  his  compan 
ion  passed  him  slowly  on  the  foot-path.  He  knew  the 
voice  in  an  instant ;  even  in  the  darkness  he  recognized  the 
supple,  graceful  figure  and  the  timid,  gliding  step.  He 
followed,  not  knowing  whether  to  make  himself  known  or 


266  THE  ALIENS. 

not.  His  mind  was  very  busy  now  with  a  problem  that 
tortured  him  a  great  deal. 

Plainly  Providence  had  intervened.  He  had  shunned 
temptation.  He  had  resolutely  kept  from  the  edge  of  the 
precipice ;  but  here,  though  his  steps  were  far  from  the 
fatal  brink,  destiny  had  turned  its  course,  and  planted  the 
gulf  before  him  for  his  feet  to  walk  over.  Should  he 
hurry  after  her  and  inform  her  of  Denny's  anguish  and 
fruitless  search  ?  Perhaps  that  might  take  the  temptation 
from  his  trembling  steps.  Yes,  he  would  speak  to  her, 
and  chide  her  for  not  making  known  her  distress  to  him. 

But,  as  he  lingered  in  his  uncertainty,  the  two  figures 
had  faded  far  ahead  of  him  in  the  gloom.  He  hurried  his 
pace ;  but  at  the  corner  was  a  band  of  young  people  romp 
ing,  and  he  could  not  make  out  whether  Norah  was  one  of 
them  or  not.  He  waited  to  catch  her  voice,  but  he  waited 
in  vain.  When  the  merry-makers  dispersed,  there  was  no 
sign  of  the  fugitive.  He  raised  his  eyes  to  a  dormer-win 
dow  jutting  above  a  trellised  porch,  and  his  heart  leaped 
wildly.  A  fair  outline  in  the  window  he  was  sure  he  rec 
ognized.  His  heart  throbbed  in  a  tumult  of  guilty  recogni 
tion.  Yes,  it  was  Norah  !  He  couldn't  be  mistaken  ! 

But  she  had  disappeared.  He  continued  up  the  street 
and  then  came  back;  but  the  curtain  was  drawn.  He 
passed  the  house  a  dozen  times,  until  a  light  twinkled  be 
hind  the  muslin  curtain ;  but  Norah's  face  did  not  re-ap 
pear.  He  was  sure  that  it  was  she.  He  understood  the 
situation  at  a  glance.  Norah  was  waiting  in  this  refuge 
until  she  could  secure  a  home  elsewhere.  Why  had  she 
come  to  the  city  ?  She  loved  the  country  :  the  birds  and 
fields  were  the  joys  of  her  life  !  He  couldn't  imagine  her 
outside  of  these  pastoral  surroundings,  and  he  felt  with  an 
indescribable  pang  that  it  was  his  madness,  his  thought 
lessness,  that  had  driven  her  from  the  life  she  loved. 


DARCY  GAINS  A    VICTORY.  267 

His  foolish  gifts  had  brought  the  suspicion  of  the  shrew 
upon  her,  and  she  was  too  proud  and  too  pure  to  endure 
the  shame  of  a  charge  of  theft.  But  he  would  find  a  means 
of  convincing  the  Marburys,  without  betraying  his  part  in 
the  domestic  tragedy ;  for,  of  course,  Denny,  knowing  noth 
ing  of  the  real  cause  of  Norah's  panic  and  flight,  ascribed 
it  to  Amelia's  cruel  charge.  Darcy  had  no  suspicion  of 
Byron's  odious  part  in  the  complicated  causes  of  Nora'hs 
act.  He  wandered  up  and  down  the  shadowy,  silent 
street  until  the  noisy  group  on  the  veranda  separated  and 
the  light  behind  the  curtain  went  out,  then  took  his  way, 
glowing  and  restless,  to  his  own  luxurious  room.  He  tried 
to  read  :  but  a  rosy  face  was  before  him  ;  pouting  lips 
were  near  his  own ;  gentle,  pleading  eyes  were  gazing  into 
his  soul ;  and  he  started  up  with  a  bitter  cry  of  love  and 
despair. 

"  No  !  "  he  said.  "  I  shall  be  tempted  no  more.  I 
shall  go  at  once  in  the  morning  and  tell  Denny,  and  have 
Norah  sent  back.  I  shall  never  see  her  again.  I  should 
be  a  villain  if  I  did." 

The  resolution  gave  him  great  comfort.  He  disrobed 
himself  tranquilly,  with  a  little  throb  of  self-admiration  at 
his  constancy.  "  No,  it  should  never  be  said  that  a  War- 
chester  had  brought  sorrow  to  the  humblest.  He  could 
look  all  mankind  in  the  face."  And  to  prove  it  he  stood 
before  the  diamond  rift  made  by  the  muslin  curtains 
drawn  over  the  mirror,  and  surveyed  his  sparkling  eyes, 
his  handsome  features,  caressed  the  budding  down  on  his 
upper  lip,  and  smiled  until  the  glistening,  irregular  teeth 
shone  in  the  flattered  glass.  Serenely  content  with  what 
he  saw,  he  sat  down,  pulled  off  one  stocking,  then,  man 
like,  fell  to  thinking;  being  so  far  in  his  disrobing,  the 
operation  at  this  stage  seemed  to  invite  reflection.  He 
sat  with  his  garments  half  off :  his  mind  went  back  to  the 


268  THE  ALIENS. 

sylvan  tryst  under  the  apple-tree  ;  the  thrill  of  the  last 
embrace  in  the  dairy  ;  the  tender  beseeching  of  the  soft, 
sweet  eyes ;  the  inexpressible  yielding  of  that  elfin  em 
brace,  when  in  his  heart  he  had  sworn  that  life  held  noth 
ing  so  precious  ;  that  social  allurements  were  cheats ;  fame, 
an  echo  ;  and  love,  enough.  When,  a  half  hour  later,  he 
found  the  stocking  still  suspended  from  his  foot,  he  hur 
riedly  disrobed,  but  he  turned  in  dread  from  ths  mirror 
as  he  extinguished  the  candle  ;  he  dared  not  confront 
himself  in  the  glass  now,  for  his  resolution  had  oozed  into 
an  equivocation. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    HANDMAID    OF    BOAZ. 

HAD  she  dared  communicate  with  Denny,  or  relieve 
Aunt  Selina's  suspense,  Norah  would  have  found  her  new 
life  not  only  supportable  but  perhaps  happy.  She  had 
racked  her  brain  in  agonies  of  indecision ;  at  one  moment 
she  resolved  to  write  to  Denny  and  Aunt  Selina,  and  tell 
them  where  she  was.  But,  if  she  did,  she  would  have  to 
reveal  the  horror  of  Byron's  hideous  passion.  Then,  too, 
she  feared  that,  if  her  whereabouts  were  known  to  others 
of  the  household,  Byron  would  watch  and  wrest  the  secret 
from  them.  If  she  remained  hidden  long  enough,  he 
would  forget  his  fever  and  be  ashamed  of  his  Tarquin  pur 
pose.  Of  Darcy  she  thought,  and  thought,  until  her  gentle 
heart  grew  heavy.  She  knew  she  was  near  him.  She 
could  have  summoned  him  at  a  moment's  notice. 

But,  though  too  pure  and  guileless  to  dream  the  danger 
their  intimacy  involved,  she  was  protected,  by  the  instinct 


THE  HANDMAID   OF  BOAZ.  269 

that  Heaven  implants,  from  that  fatal  peril  which  is  held 
in  almost  superstitious  horror  by  women  of  Irish  blood. 
I  don't  know  whether  she  ever  thought  of  the  obstacles 
which  lay  between  her  and  Darcy,  that  is,  the  impossibility 
of  a  scion  of  a  family  so  pretentious  taking  her  in  mar 
riage. 

Darcy  had  once  called  her  his  "  witch  wife,"  and  she 
had  blushed  rosily,  and  dreamed  of  a  woodland  ritual  and 
a  Queen  Mab  cortege  at  the  ceremonial  which  gave  her  this 
beautiful  husband.  But  it  was  all  vague  [and  unreal  to 
her.  She  only  thought  of  Darcy  as  she  thought  of  the 
birds  and  flowers  that  she  roved  among,  listening  to  the 
song  of  the  birds,  inhaling  the  fragrance  of  the  blossoms, 
taking  no  thought  of  the  future.  But  her  purpose  of  giv 
ing  the  jewels  back  had  changed.  Why  should  she  wound 
him  by  returning  them  ?  Why  pain  him  by  the  story  of 
the  woe  they  had  brought  upon  her  ?  Then,  too,  he  was 
so  proud  and  determined ;  he  would  have  gone  straight  to 
Amelia  and  told  her  outright  that  it  was  he  who  had  given 
these  emblems  of  love.  And  then  Denny  would  know 
that  she  had  kept  a  secret  from  him,  and  Aunt  Selina's 
reproachful  eyes  would  grow  dim  over  the  treason.  Ah, 
no  !  It  was  better,  now  she  had  faced  the  cruelty  of  sep 
aration,  that  she  should  wait  until  Aunt  Selina  and  Denny 
could  be  told  without  danger  of  bringing  Byron  near 
her. 

One  evening,  about  a  fortnight  after  she  had  become 
domesticated  in  the  Blythe  household,  as  she  sat  embroid 
ering  in  the  sitting-room,  a  stranger  came  in  with  Manly, 
and  the  boy  in  great  glee  brought  him  over  to  Norah, 
saying : 

"This  is  our  new  cousin,  Mab."  It  was  by  this  name 
that  Norah  was  called  altogether  in  the  household,  owing 
to  the  fairy  lore  she  dealt  out  so  profusely  to  the  lad. 


270 


THE  ALIENS. 


"  Mab  has  deserted  her  dells  for  the  hearth,  has  she?  " 
said  the  stranger  good-humoredly,  as  Norah  raised  her 
eyes.  But,  when  he  caught  sight  of  her  face,  he  started. 
Norah  replied,  blushing : 

"  Yes,  Mab  was  fond  of  the  chimney-corner  when  the 
frost  fell,  and  sometimes  in  summer." 

Mrs.  Blythe  entered  the  room,  and,  catching  sight  of 
her  visitor,  bustled  forward  in  great  delight. 

"Why,  Mr.  Dunn,  I  didn't  know  you  had  come  back  ! 
Do  take  a  seat.  Manly,  I  wonder  that  you  don't  give  folks 
a  chair  when  they  come  in  ;  you  are  losing  all  your  man 
ners  !  How  are  all  the  folks  in  Bucephalo  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I've  just  come  in,"  said  Dunn,  shaking  hands 
cordially,  as  Mrs.  Blythe  placed  a  seat  for  him  ;  "and  it 
is  not  Manly's  fault  that  I  didn't  have  a  seat  sooner.  I 
was  paying  court  to  Queen  Mab." 

"  Eh  ?     Oh,  yes  ;  that's  Manly's  silly  nonsense." 

"  No,  mother,  it's  not  nonsense.  My  book  says  that 
Mab  lives  in  the  flowers  and  can  talk  with  them,  and  so 
does  cousin  Norah." 

"  Very  well  reasoned  out,  Manly,  boy  ;  Kris  Kringle 
shall  know  of  your  fidelity  to  his  tribe  when  Christmas 
comes,"  and  Manly,  with  glowing  eyes,  planted  himself 
on  Dunn's  broad  knees,  who  meanwhile  kept  his  eyes  on 
the  downcast  face  of  Norah,  as  she  plied  her  needle  swiftly 
in  the  cloth  before  her.  Mrs.  Blythe  was  waddling  about 
the  room,  movement  having  been  recommended  to  her  by 
the  new  homoeopathic  doctor  as  a  certain  means  of  reduc 
ing  portliness  that  began  to  hang  heavy  on  her  spirits  as 
well  as  on  her  frame. 

So  it  happened  often  after  this  that  Marcus  Dunn  re 
mained  after  tea  to  talk  with  Norah  in  the  mellow  evening 
light.  Marcus  had  changed  but  little  since  we  saw  him 
thirteen  or  fourteen  years  before.  He  was  still  slender, 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  BOAZ. 


271 


shapely,  and  student-like  in  deportment.  His  gray  eyes 
were  softer  and  kindlier  ;  his  voice  rich,  harmonious,  and 
re-assuring.  He  was  the  despair  of  Warchester  mammas 
and  maids,  who  had  pronounced  him  the  best  "  catch  "  in 
town  for  years.  But,  engrossed  in  his  profession  and  fond 
of  books,  he  had  resisted  the  guiles  of  the  man-ensnaring 
and  the  seductions  of  beauty,  and  now,  at  thirty-five  or 
forty,  he  was  still  ranked  among  the  "beaus  "  of  the  upper 
social  ranks.  For  years  he  had  made  the  hospitable  table 
of  the  Blythes  his  family  circle,  and  was  considered  as  one 
of  the  family.  His  rooms  were  in  his  law  building.  There 
he  reigned  in  a  domain  of  such  aesthetic  luxury  as  few  of 
the  most  pretentious  Warchesters  could  hope  to  equal. 
Statuary  and  painting  were  not  then  the  vogue  in  the  push 
ing  and  complacent  circles  that  considered  themselves 
"  first "  ;  but  Marcus  had  brought  home  many  precious 
evidences  of  the  taste  that  reigned  in  older  societies  be 
yond  the  sea. 

Such  groups  of  young  men  as  were  permitted  to  come 
to  Dunn's  quarters  on  rare  occasions,  when  he  gave  small 
parties  to  the  Pundit  Club,  an  organization  of  which  he 
was  president  and  founder,  were  looked  upon  as  singularly 
favored  ;  for,  though  comparatively  a  young  man,  Marcus 
chose  his  companions  among  the  elders  of  the  bar  and  the 
faculty  of  the  college.  His  practice  was  very  large,  and 
his  cases  took  him  all  over  the  State.  It  was  during  one 
of  these  absences  that  Norah  became  an  inmate  of  the 
Blue  Jay  and  a  settled  member  of  the  family  when  he  re 
turned.  Norah  had  said  nothing  to  the  Blythes  about 
keeping  her  strange  advent  secret,  but,  with  the  delicacy 
that  is  often  found  in  the  least  sensitive  or  unschooled, 
they  repulsed  all  gossip,  and  simply  represented  the  girl  as 
a  kinswoman  fallen  to  their  care. 

The  sight  of  Norah  that  first  evening  had  aroused 


272  THE  ALIENS. 

strange  memories  in  Marcus  Dunn.  He  recalled  that 
summer  voyage  on  the  canal  long  ago,  when  his  heart  had 
been  solemnly  stirred  by  the  Madonna  loveliness  of  the 
emigrant  mother ;  of  the  piteous  tragedy,  and  the  lonely 
grave.  Mab  was  the  image  of  that  dolorous  mother,  with 
something  of  her  melancholy  splendor  of  face  and  form. 
But  the  melancholy  was  not  sadness  in  Norah's  case. 
The  wit  of  her  race  bubbled  from  her  heart  so  soon  as 
her  girlish  shyness  wore  off.  Presently  nothing  but  the 
assemblage  of  the  "  Pundits "  could  lure  the  studious 
jurisconsult  from  his  simple  tetc-b-tete  with  the  demure 
maiden. 

He  was  greatly  puzzled  by  her  presence  in  the  family, 
but  made  no  inquiry.  He  had  casually  led  the  conversa 
tion  to  the  past,  occasionally,  in  order  to  discover  the 
girl's  antecedents  ;  but,  as  she  became  silent  and  pensive, 
he  forebore.  At  her  old  home  Norah  was  called  Marbury 
almost  exclusively,  and  it  was  as  Norah  Marbury  that 
Marcus  knew  her.  He  had  no  suspicion,  at  first,  even 
though  reminding  him  of  the  sad  mother,  that  she  was  the 
Murillo's  daughter.  He  brought  books  of  more  varied 
range  than  poor  Denny's  limited  treasures  afforded,  and 
he  found  her  an  apt  and  diligent  student.  She  treated 
him  with  the  sincerity  and  open  frankness  of  a  sister,  and 
he  was  careful  to  preserve  a  fraternal  tone  in  all  his 
goings  and  comings.  Even  the  household  saw  nothing  to 
comment  on.  The  friendship  was  quite  natural. 

Norah  amused  and  distracted  the  overworked  student ; 
what  more  natural  than  that  he  should  sit  by  the  window, 
while  the  gossips  chatted  outside,  and  address  an  occasional 
word  to  the  young  girl  reading  or  sewing  in  the  room  ? 
He  could  see  in  Norah's  voice,  movement,  and  manner, 
that  she  had  been  gently  bred.  She  had  none  of  the 
blemishes  that  come  from  superficial  or  unlettered  sur- 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  BOAZ. 


273 


roundings.  She  might  have  been  the  daughter  of  a  War- 
chester  or  a  Darcy  so  far  as  her  bearing  and  conversation 
told  the  story. 

It  was  not  long  before  Marcus  Dunn  took  himself  to 
task  anent  this  new  motive  that  began  to  manifest  itself  in 
his  life.  Was  he  in  love  ?  he  asked  himself,  walking  dis 
tractedly  where  the  roar  of  the  cataract  drowned  the  sound 
of  his  voice.  Was  this  creature  of  rose-leaves,  pome 
granate,  and  gentleness  the  vestal  of  the  altar  he  had  so 
long  shunned  ?  What,  a  middle-aged  man,  who  had  dedi 
cated  his  years  to  a  noble  profession,  was  he  subject  to 
the  torments  whose  incipience  he  had  felt  as  a  boy,  so 
many  years  before,  when  to  love  was  guilt — dishonor — 
misery  ! 

What  a  strange,  tranquilizing  sweetness  hovered  about 
her  !  How  the  world  and  its  waywardness,  its  pomps 
and  ignoble  rewards,  faded  into  thin  air  as  he  list 
ened  to  the  rich,  soft  voice,  and  with  gentle  craft  en 
couraged  the  artless  prattler  !  But  how  could  he  hope  to 
win  the  peri  ?  How  proffer  the  sober  years  and  sedate 
yearnings  of  his  so  long  obdurate  heart  to  this  creature 
of  love  and  tenderness  ?  Often,  in  the  lonely  luxury  of 
his  rooms,  he  let  his  fancy  picture  the  pretty  figure  of 
Norah  flitting  about,  a  thing  of  rarer  beauty  than  his 
Canova  marbles,  his  Van  Dyck  replicas.  What  a  crown 
she  would  be  to  his  tranquil  life  ?  How  the  folly  of  am 
bition  would  evaporate  before  that  delicious  reality ! 
But  he  would  wait.  There  was  no  hurry.  She  was  so 
shy  that  he  must  give  her  a  chance  to  know  him. 

Her  reluctance  to  go  out  at  first  puzzled,  but  finally 
pleased  him.  He  often  strolled  with  her  of  an  evening 
now,  when  Manly  escorted  her  to  the  rushing  waters  of  the 
Caribee,  to  hear  for  the  hundredth  time  the  fascinating 
fables  she  invented  of  the  nymphs  of  the  stream  and  the 


2/4  THE  ALIENS. 

dryads  of  the  grove.  He  let  the  boy  do  all  the  talking, 
and  thus  made  himself  welcome  to  that  exacting  tyrant, 
who  would  have  whisked  Mab  away  had  the  elder  cavalier 
monopolized  his  adored  necromancer.  Days  and  weeks 
of  joy  unspeakable  these  to  the  silent,  rapt  worshiper,  who 
fed  on  his  own  uncertainty ;  for  he  did  not  know  whether 
to  dare  and  lose,  or  to  be  silent  and  enjoy. 

Once  he  asked  her  to  let  him  have  a  miniature  painted 
by  an  artist  friend  visiting  him  from  New  York.  She 
consented  with  roseate  delight  on  her  dimpled  face ;  but, 
when  the  painter  saw  her,  and  started,  in  glowing  rapture, 
Marcus's  heart  sank,  and  he  regretted  in  days  and  nights 
of  anguish  that  he  had  run  the  risk.  For  the  painter  was 
a  gay  young  fellow,  and  prattled  amorously  of  the  Cinde 
rella  kept  by  her  wicked  kinsfolk  in  the  demure  corner  of 
the  little  inn.  A  second  miniature  that  Marcus  had  con 
templated  was  not  ordered  from  this  too  susceptible 
master.  When  Norah's  was  finished,  he  was  promptly 
paid,  that  he  might  take  himself  elsewhere.  But  the 
pertinacious  artist  informed  his  patron  that  he  was  en 
chanted  with  Warchester,  and  that  he  should  remain  and 
sketch  there  for  some  time.  And  he  did.  He  set  up  a 
studio,  and  on  the  walls  were  studies  of  Norah  in  scores 
of  ideal  attitudes,  the  very  mention  of  which  drove  Mar 
cus  into  a  frenzy  of  jealous  madness.  Worse  than  all,  the 
young  scamp  became  one  of  ths  Blue  Jay's  family  circle, 
and  lost  no  opportunity  of  ingratiating  himself  with  the 
household. 

Meanwhile  Darcy  had  met  with  a  mishap  !  He  had 
met  with  a  mishap  we  all  experience  some  time  in  our 
lives.  He  had,  as  we  have  seen,  summoned  the  powers  of 
mind  and  conscience  in  grand  debate.  Mind  had  routed 
conscience  !  He  had  faced  his  handsome  self  in  the 
mirror  before  the  decision,  and  resolved  that  he  would  fly 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  BOAZ.  275 

temptation  ;  that  he  would  not  see  Norah  ;  that  he  would 
write  to  Denny  and  tell  him  where  the  fugitive  was  to  be 
found.  But,  later,  the  forces  of  mind  had  overcome  this 
resolve,  and  he  had  compromised  with  conscience.  He 
would  see  her  just  once,  and  then  summon  the  powers  of 
virtue — her  shield  and  defender,  Denny. 

But,  alas  !  humiliation  was  added  to  self-reproach 
when,  after  an  hour's  sauntering  before  the  cottage  where 
he  had  seen  Norah,  he  discovered  that  he  had  been  de 
ceived — that,  though  the  girl  resembled  her,  it  was  not 
she.  He  brooded  bitterly  over  his  inanity  now.  Why 
hadn't  he  boldly  spoken  to  her  when  she  was  by  his  side 
in  the  street?  Why  had  he  stupidly  let  her  be  lost  to 
him  in  the  group  of  merry-makers  ?  What  a  dolt  he  was 
not  to  know  that  the  gentle  Norah  would  not  linger  in  the 
street  to  join  such  hoyden  pranks.  But  he  was  not  to  be 
baffled  now.  He  would  find  her;  he  would  caress  that 
lithe  form  ;  he  would  press  those  rosebud  lips  and  look 
deep,  deep  into  those  limpid  eyes,  in  which  he  knew  his 
image  lingered — knew —  Great  God  !  he  knew  that,  sleep 
ing  and  waking,  he  was  in  her  thoughts. 

He  knew  she  was  in  Warchester  because  he  was  there  ! 
He  knew  that  on  a  nod  from  him  she  would  put  a  dagger 
into  her  gentle  heart !  It  was  the  knowledge  of  all  this 
that  had  restrained  him  so  long.  But,  maddened  now,  the 
self-accusing  voice  of  conscience  upbraiding  him  for  his 
compromise,  he  recklessly  resolved  to  hunt  from  street  to 
street,  and  house  to  house,  until  he  found  her.  Had  no 
obstacle  been  placed  in  his  way — had  he  really  found 
Norah  in  the  cottage  that  morning — who  knows  but  the 
better  angel  might  have  had  the  last  word  ?  When  his 
young  blood  had  been  tamed  by  denial;  when  his  purpose 
had  been  strengthened  by  doubt !  When  Darcy  came 
in  to  the  luncheon-table  his  usually  gay  face  was  gloomy. 


276  THE  ALIENS. 

His  mother,  sensitive  to  his  humors  as  mercury  to  tem 
perature,  asked  in  dismay  : 

"  Why,  Darcy,  what  can  have  happened !  Is  your 
horse  lame  ? " 

"  No,  not  that  I  know ;  I'm  a  little  knocked  up.  I 
read  late  last  night  and  didn't  sleep  well." 

"You  look  as  if  you  had  met  a  creditor,"  said  the 
Colonel,  tossing  off  a  glass  of  wine.  "  Try  a  glass  of 
Bordeaux,  and  you'll  be  all  right." 

Darcy  sat  down  and  made  a  pretense  of  eating  ;  his 
mother  tempting  him  with  tid-bits  she  knew  his  fond 
ness  for.  The  Colonel  was  engaged  with  a  newspaper, 
and  broke  out  presently  : 

"  Mr.  Soldier,  you  may  polish  up  your  sword  ;  there  is 
no  longer  any  doubt  that  the  politicians  mean  that  we 
shall  fight  the  Mexicans.  All  the  news  from  Washington 
looks  warlike." 

Darcy's  eyes  glistened. 

"  Yes,  the  fellows  were  full  of  it  last  night  at  the  Chan 
cellor's,  and  we're  going  to  raise  a  company  to  march  with 
Taylor,  and  I'm  to  be  captain.  West  Point  has  done  me 
that  much  service !  "  and  Darcy  smiled  at  his  mother. 

"  If  West  Point  had  done  nothing  else,  Darcy,  it  gave 
you  the  tone  of  a  gentleman.  That  is  a  good  deal  in  our 
country,  in  such  society  as  we  have  to  endure,  where 
lawyers,  doctors,  and  all  sorts  of  tradespeople  are  admitted 
as  the  equals  of  old  families  like  ours,  the  Vanes,  the 
Kents,  the  Thurstons,  the  Darcys — " 

"  And  the  Poultneys,"  interjected   Darcy  with  a  grin. 

"  Faugh  !  Don't,  I  beg  of  you,  Darcy,  mention  that 
odious  vulgarian  to  me.  I  have  commanded  Mrs.  Vane 
to  keep  Agnes  from  associating  with  that  ill-bred  person  !  " 

"  She'll  miss  great  fun  if  she  doesn't,  I  assure  you. 
Lady  Molly  is  the  cleverest  woman  in  Warchester.  Of 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  BOAZ.  277 

course,"  added  the  young  rogue  archly,  "always  excepting 
Madame  Warchester ! " 

"  She  may  do  for  silly  boys  like  you  to  intrigue  with  ; 
but  I  warn  you,  my  son,  now  that  you  are  nearly  ready  to 
settle  in  life,  you  must  think  of  your  own  standing  and 
your  wife's." 

"  But,  mother,  what's  the  use  of  being  a  Warchester,  if 
one  can't  do  as  one  pleases  ?  I  always  supposed  that 
rank  gave  one  a  right  to  do  as  one  likes.  Else  not, 
'  'twould  be  as  gay  to  be  a  plowman,'  "  Darcy  said  solemnly. 

"  It  is  in  the  fact  that  you  are  a  Warchester  that  you 
must  be  careful  what  you  do.  It  is  the  mission  of  fami 
lies  like  ours  to  set  an  example,  and,  if  our  son  is  seen 
mingling  on  terms  of -equality  with  such  personages  as  the 
one  we  have  named,  all  distinctive  marks  are  lost.  No 
blesse  oblige y  my  son  ! — Noblesse  oblige" 

Mrs.  Warchester  was  very  proud  of  a  limited  knowl 
edge  of  the  French  tongue,  which  she  had  learned  in  a 
very  select  school  in  New  York,  presided  over  by  a  French 
countess,  a  cousin  of  the  famous  Lafayette.  This  lady's 
portrait  adorned  the  hall  of  the  Warchester  mansion, 
with  a  faded  paper  tied  to  one  corner,  upon  which  was 
written  the  most  charming  little  note  in  the  French  tongue 
to  "  Mademoiselle  Vane,"  with  the  most  distinguished 
consideration  and  profound  amities  "  of  her  vieille  amie, 
Euphrasie  de  Cottin."  Darcy's  French  was  the  fragment 
ary  West  Point  phrases,  that  imperil  the  venturous  person 
infatuated  enough  to  use  it,  and  it  broke  his  mother's 
heart  that  he  sensibly  refrained,  in  spite  of  her  frequent 
incursions  into  that  tongue. 

"  Noblesse  oblige — that  may  be  !  but  the  king  cures  evil 
by  touching  it!  Why  is  not  vulgarity  made  the  mode 
when  a  Warchester  gives  it  countenance  ? "  and  Darcy, 
with  pretended  gravity,  met  his  mother's  indignant  glance. 


278  THE  ALIENS. 

"  Tush,  Darcy !  If  we  were  in  a  land  where  our  rank 
held  its  precedence  without  assertion,  it  would  be  a  differ 
ent  thing.  Here  anybody  that  you  speak  to  civilly  pre 
sumes  upon  it  to  invite  you  to  his  house,  and  expects  to  be 
invited  to  yours." 

At  this  point  Darcy  willingly  dropped  the  discussion, 
for  it  was  by  no  means  a  new  one  between  mother  and 
son.  She'  was  very  earnest  in  this  harmless  dogmatism. 
It  was  not  unknown  to  Darcy  that  his  mother's  sentiments 
were  the  mingled  amusement  and  reverence  of  the  town, 
for  she  was  consistent  in  enforcing  them.  The  heterodox 
son  would  not  have  escaped,  however,  so  easily  if  the  door 
had  not  opened  to  admit  a  vision  so  radiant  that  even  the 
question  of  caste  vanished  from  the  Warchester  mind  as  a 
young  girl,  majestic  in  movement,  imperial  in  manner, 
sailed  into  the  room. 

"  Aunt  Warchester,  won't  you  give  me  some  lunch  ? 
Papa  is  entertaining  the  judge,  and  I  ran  away  ! "  she  ex 
claimed,  kissing  the  mother,  courtesying  to  the  Colonel, 
and  holding  out  her  hand  to  the  son. 

"  My  dear,  you  shall  have  something  to  eat  and  you 
shall  hear  the  news.  Darcy's  going  to  the  wars,  and  you 
shall  be  a  general's  wife,  perhaps." 

"  Going  to  the  wars  ?    What  wars  ?    Where  ?    When  ?  " 

Then  mamma  narrates  the  rumors,  and  the  girl  laughs 
gayly. 

"  Is  that  all  ?  I  thought  that  perhaps  the  English  had 
declared  war  against  us.  There's  not  much  chance  for 
glory  in  Mexico.  There's  no  one  there  to  fight  but  half- 
breeds  and  Indians." 

"Your  knowledge  of  contemporary  history  does  dis 
credit  to  Mrs.  Fitz-Hughes's  seminary,  Agnes,  if  that's  all 
you  know  of  Mexico,"  and  Darcy  smiled  in  a  mildly  su 
perior  way  at  the  incredulous  beauty. 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  BOAZ. 


279 


"  I  must  leave  you  at  your  history-lessons,  young  people, 
and  set  the  house  in  order  betimes,  if  we  are  going  to  have 
war,"  said  the  Colonel,  rising  from  the  table. 

"  That  means  you  must  go  to  the  bank  and  wrangle 
with  those  vulgar  directors,  I  suppose,"  Mrs.  Warchester 
said,  rising  and  leaving  the  room  with  her  husband. 

"  It  was  charming  in  you  to  come  in  this  morning," 
Darcy  said  as  the  door  closed.  "  I  have  been  out  of  sorts, 
and  now  we  can  take  a  jaunt.  What  do  you  say  to  a  dash 
Malvernward  ?  Do  you  feel  equal  to  such  a  pull  ? " 

"  Really,  I  feel  equal  to  scolding  you." 

"  Scolding,  Agnes  !     Why,  what  have  I  done  ? " 

"It's  for  what  you've  left  undone." 

"  But  there's  grace  still  in  me." 

"  No.     But  it's  lucky  for  you  there's  grace  in  me  !  " 

"  But  the  undone  :  what  is  it  ?     Ton  my  honor — " 

"  Never  mind  your  honor,  faithless.  I  won't  say  any 
more.  If  your  conscience  doesn't  prick  you,  nothing  I 
can  say  will  arouse  its  still,  small  voice." 

"  Angels  and  ministers  of  grace,  defend  us  !  " 

"  It  would  take  all  those  and  more  to  make  successful 
defense  of  your  sins." 

"  Shall  I,  pining  in  despair,  mourn  because  a  maid  is 
fair  ?  Tell,  oh,  tell !  " 

"No,  I  sha'n't!" 

"  Ah,  I  have  it !  The  musicale  last  night !  But,  Agnes, 
you  know  I  said  I  might  come  ;  I  didn't  say  I  would  come. 
I  should  have  gone  had  it  not  been — " 

"  Had  it  not  been  for  what  ?  " 

"  On  my  honor — " 

"  Oh,  no,  something  tangible  ;  something  admitted." 

"  Well,  on  my  soul — " 

"Urn!  still  doubtful." 

"  On  my  love  for  the  fairest  being  that  ever — " 


280  THE  ALIENS. 

"  Who  is  she  ?  " 

"  Agnes,  can  you  ask  ?  Look  in  my  eyes,  and  you  will 
see  her  glorious  image.  Look  in  my  heart,  and  you  will 
see  it  filled  with  her —  Look — " 

"  No,  I'm  not  armed  with  a  scalpel,  and  I  can't  exam 
ine  your  heart." 

"  But  the  eyes  !  "  He  was  near  her,  looking  into  her 
own  dark  luminous  eyes,  tenderly  pleading.  She  bent 
over  suddenly,  their  lips  met,  and  the  quarrel  was 
ended. 

An  hour  later,  Agnes,  in  a  Diana-like  robe  that  almost 
trailed  to  the  ground  from  her  horse,  side  by  side  with 
Darcy,  emerged  into  the  river  road  from  the  sparse  city 
dwellings.  As  they  trotted  slowly  along,  Agnes,  pointing 
to  the  roadside,  said : 

"  What  a  pretty  girl  that  is  !  She  looks  like  a  wood- 
nymph." 

Darcy's  eyes  fell  upon  two  figures  bending  over  a  clus 
ter  of  purple  asters.  He  started,  and  gave  the  rein  such  a 
pull  that  the  horse  came  to  a  halt.  Agnes,  startled,  turned 
to  see  if  he  had  fallen.  But  his  eyes  were  fastened  upon 
Norah,  who,  diverted  by  the  sudden  hoof-beats,  had  turned. 
Her  eyes  met  Darcy's,  and  she  made  an  eager  motion  as 
if  to  rush  forward  and  speak  ;  but  her  eye,  wandering 
from  Darcy's  flushed  face,  rested  upon  the  staring  figure 
of  his  companion.  She  shrank  back  ;  the  two  horses  shot 
past  and  onward,  without  a  sign  from  the  lover.  Some 
evil  spirit  seized  Darcy's  horse  at  this  juncture,  or  perhaps 
the  muttered  execrations  of  the  young  man  had  startled 
the  beast,  for  he  tore  on  quite  wildly  for  a  mile  or  more, 
effectually  preventing  conversation.  When  a  tranquil  pace 
was  again  resumed,  Agnes,  turning  in  the  saddle,  said  in 
quiringly  : 

"  You  know  her  ? " 


COWARD  CONSCIENCE.  28 1 

"Yes,  it  is  Dr.  Marbury's  ward — the  young  girl  that 
was  ill  in  our  house  last  year." 

"  She's  wonderfully  pretty.     What's  her  name  ? " 

"  Norah  Marbury." 

"  Norah  ?  A  soft,  pretty  name.  But  what  is  she  doing 
up  here  ?  Marbury  is  four  miles  from  this." 

"  I  believe  she  lives  in  the  city  now.  There's  a  mag 
nificent  tiger-lily  by  the  water  yonder.  Wouldn't  you  like 
it  ? "  and  Darcy,  leaping  from  the  saddle,  cut  the  lustrous 
flower  from  its  stalk. 

The  young  girl  placed  it  at  her  girdle,  and  they  rode  on 
over  the  hills,  Darcy  torn  by  an  inward  debate,  in  which 
conscience  was  doing  some  desperate  comminatory  dia 
loguing  with  no  faculty  or  weighty  force  to  reply  in  behalf 
of  Darcy's  impulse. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

COWARD    CONSCIENCE. 

A  WEED,  set  in  a  hot-house,  rivals  in  delicacy  of 
color,  fragrance,  and  beauty  the  untended  plants  of  the 
garden.  The  rarest  blossoms  that  decorate  the  bosom  of 
beauty  are  only  the  survivals  of  the  hardiest  shoots  of  the 
wild  wood.  I  remember  well  when  the  daisy,  the  prim 
rose,  and  ragged  robin  were  looked  upon  as  weeds,  fitted 
only  for  the  brookside  or  the  field.  In  my  young  days 
the  aster  and  golden-rod  had  no  place  in  the  flora  of  the 
parlor.  Poets  had  long  sung  the  purple  pansy,  the  merry 
buttercup,  the  royal  clover,  before  these  modest  blossoms 
found  place  in  the  parterres  of  the  garden.  Social  and 
natural  evolution  work,  if  not  by  the  same  processes,  in 


282  THE  ALIENS, 

much  the  same  ways.  The  sunflower  of  to-day  is  the  same 
rugged  stalk  of  the  kitchen  garden  that  it  was  a  half  cent 
ury  ago,  but  it  is  now  not  only  a  decoration  of  the  aesthetic 
illuminati,  but  a  spiritual  type. 

Reared  from  the  tenderest  years  among  the  ideals  and 
symbols  of  a  conceded  caste,  Agnes  Vane  was  as  com 
pletely  identified  in  external  characteristics  with  her  later 
conditions  as  the  Roman  slave  who  had  become  part  of 
the  optimate  ranks  in  the  time  of  Cicero.  She  was  put  to 
school  with  the  daughters  of  the  house,  and  she  surpassed 
her  high-born  mates  in  seizing  the  sense  of  all  that  was 
taught  her  infant  understanding.  The  Vanes  were  proud 
of  an  ancestry  that  held  Sir  Harry  Vane,  Cromwell's  lieu 
tenant  and  Charles's  bete  noire,  among  the  glories  of  its  his 
tory.  Mansfield  Vane  had  settled  upon  a  Continental 
grant  on  the  banks  of  the  Caribee,  long  before  the  site  of 
Warchester  was  selected  as  the  preordained  spot  for  a 
town.  His  son  Percy  had  grown  rich  by  simply  holding 
his  paternal  acres  until  the  city  borders  reached  them,  and 
the  family  mansion,  which  had  been  in  the  country,  was, 
by  the  growth  of  the  city,  made  hardly  suburban.  PJay- 
ing  under  the  stately  Vane  elms  one  day,  Agnes  had  at 
tracted  Mrs.  Vane's  attention,  first  by  her  infant  terror  of 
a  formidable  mastiff,  and  then  by  a  childish  beauty  that 
recalled  the  stately  lady's  own  kin.  James  Boyne  was  only 
too  glad  to  yield  all  claim  to  the  orphan,  and  thencefor 
ward  the  little  Agnes  Boyne  became  part  in  the  blood  and 
ambition  of  the  patrician  caste.  Her  mind  was  strong  and 
subtle,  as  the  North  Irish  intellect  generally  is.  The  hard 
ness  that  tinges  it,  however,  in  the  dynamic  northern  cli 
mate,  lost  the  sharpness  of  its  tone  in  the  milder  amenities 
of  the  girl's  new  surroundings. 

Partly  for  the  girl's  sake,  partly  for  policy,  her  rela 
tionship  to  James  Boyne  was  sedulously  concealed,  so  soon 


COWARD  CONSCIENCE.  283 

as  Percy  Vane  saw  that  the  uncle  really  had  no  interest  in 
his  brother's  child.  James  Boyne  had  on  a  memorable 
occasion  rescued  Vane  from  an  awful  death  in  the  mill 
machinery.  The  patrician  had  never  ceased  to  bear  the 
grim  bread-winner  in  the  kindest  remembrance.  He  had 
given  him  the  lots  upon  which  his  substantial  house  stood, 
and  he  never  let  a  chance  slip,  as  the  years  rolled  by,  to 
evince  the  liveliness  of  his  gratitude.  It  was  through 
this  sentimental  relation  that  Agnes  came  to  the  notice  of 
the  Vanes,  and  it  was  on  learning  the  hostility  of  James 
Boyne's  wife  to  the  orphan's  presence  that  the  idea  of 
adoption  was  first  suggested.  When  Agnes  Boyne  became 
Agnes  Vane,  James  Boyne  made  no  doubt  that  he  was  her 
lawful  guardian — as  her  mother  had  been  two  years  before 
laid  in  the  Potter's  corner  of  God's  acre.  Hugh  Boyne 
was  dead  by  circumstantial  report,  and  the  little  waif  was 
legally  given  over  to  her  new  and  munificent  destiny. 

Every  year  her  beauty  grew  more  enchanting.  She 
might  have  been  of  Andalusian  blood,  so  dark  her  eyes, 
so  clearly  olive  her  complexion,  so  ebon  and  massy  her 
lustrous  coils  of  hair.  With  the  languorous  beauty  of  the 
South,  she  developed  the  vigorous  mental  faculties  of  the 
North,  and  at  school  was  the  pride  and  wonder  of  her 
preceptors.  Of  her  origin  she  had  but  the  vaguest  recol 
lection.  Under  her  Uncle  James's  guardianship,  a  little 
lass  of  four  or  five  years,  she  was  told  that  the  large-eyed, 
wandering  woman  who  haunted  her,  was  mad  and  fancied 
herself  the  child's  mother.  The  Vane  children,  her 
brothers  and  sisters,  were  too  young  to  understand  the 
status  of  their  new  sister,  and  she  was  never  in  any  way 
reminded  of  her  past,  her  parentage,  or  her  adoptive  re 
lationship.  As  the  years  went  by  the  family  itself  lost 
sight  of  the  unconsanguineal  relationship,  and  when,  dur 
ing  the  ravages  of  the  great  epidemic  of  1840,  the  girls  of 


284  THE  ALIENS. 

the  household  were  carried  off,  Agnes  became  more  pre 
ciously  the  darling  of  the  house.  In  Warchester,  though 
it  was  known  to  the  friends  of  the  family  that  Agnes  was 
only  a  daughter  by  adoption,  her  origin  was  not  suspected, 
for  just  at  the  time  she  entered  the  family,  Percy  Vane  was 
sent  abroad  on  a  diplomatic  mission,  and,  remaining  away 
six  years,  the  girl's  appearance  among  his  household  ex 
cited  no  comment.  She  was  the  joy  of  the  desolated  fam 
ily,  smitten  by  the  loss  of  its  own  children.  She  was  a 
prime  favorite  with  Mrs.  Warchester,  who  knew  that  she 
was  an  adopted  child,  but  did  not  know  the  details,  nor 
the  lowliness  of  her  origin.  She  knew  that  she  was  heiress 
of  half  the  princely  Vane  possessions,  and  very  early  be 
gan  to  point  her  out  to  Darcy  as  a  fit  mate  for  his  future. 
The  alliance,  she  reminded  him,  would  join  the  lands  of 
Warchester  and  Vane,  and  give  the  possessor  an  estate 
equal  to  a  ducal  principality.  The  Vanes  were  nothing 
loath  to  mate  the  girl  to  the  handsome  dreamer,  and  in 
the  end  the  match  was  rather  understood  than  ostensibly 
arranged. 

Darcy  fell  into  the  plan  listlessly.  He  was  not  madly 
in  love  with  the  tantalizing  beauty — save  when  she  seemed 
indifferent  to  his  good  looks,  fine  manners,  and  conquer 
ing  graces.  A  courtship  that  might  have  been  suggested 
by  Beatrice  and  Benedick's  went  on  for  years,  and  though 
both  felt  that  in  the  end  it  would  result  in  marriage, 
neither  was  quite  sure.  It  was  only  in  moments  of  jeal 
ous  wrath  that  Darcy  reminded  the  coquette  of  her  des 
tiny,  and  it  was  only  when  Darcy  seemed  smitten  with 
other  eyes  that  Agnes  implied  assent,  by  actions  rather 
than  words. 

Now,  something  of  the  odds  against  that  persistent 
prime  minister  Darcy's  conscience  may  be  understood. 
In  his  moments  of  pride  he  glowed  in  the  thought  of  this 


COWARD  CONSCIENCE.  285 

magnificent  creature  of  physical  splendor  and  mental  pre 
eminence  as  his  very  own.  In  moments  of  reverie  a  still 
small  voice  pleaded  the  softer,  subtler  charms  of  the  gentle 
Norah.  With  the  one  love  was  a  combat  and  the  con 
quest  dubitative  ;  with  the  other  love  was  a  rest,  a  dream, 
a  fulfillment.  The  one  would  be  a  voyage  of  feverish 
struggle  over  billowy  seas ;  the  other  a  delicious,  soothing 
journey  over  bubbling  waters,  with  bird-note  echoes  and 
sensuous  blossoms.  With  one  he  would  share  a  realm — 
with  the  other  he  would  be  lord  over  all. 

With  Norah  it  was  enough  that  she  loved  him. 
Therein  Agnes  held  the  vantage  ;  for  the  man  has  yet  to 
be  born  that  is  faithful  to  fidelity  of  the  sort  Norah's  love 
implied.  If  she  had  been  coy,  if  she  could  have  pretended 
doubt,  if  she  could  have  held  him  in  fear  of  her  absolute 
surrender,  the  scale  would  have  held  the  measure  firmly. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  difficulties  unexpectedly  put  in  his 
way  tipped  the  scale  in  Norah's  favor.  Darcy  was  piqued 
that  he  should  be  robbed  of  the  chance  to  be  magnani 
mous.  He  had  determined  that  Norah  should  be  warned 
that  she  must  not  love  him,  that  he  could  never  marry 
her,  and  that  she  must  fall  in  love  with  some  one  else. 

But  fate  had  intervened,  and  his  heroic  resolve  had 
come  too  late.  There  is  nothing  so  maddening  to  a  cer 
tain  state  of  self-sophistication  as  good  intention  wasted. 
Put  upon  honor,  men  in  the  condition  of  Darcy  would  re 
spond  nobly  ;  rebuffed  by  circumstances  that  mock  the 
good  resolutions  by  proving  them  unneeded,  a  self-denial 
more  stoical  than  Darcy's  must  waver  !  So,  as  he  rode 
along  under  the  mulberry  trees,  that  arched  quite  over  the 
tranquil  highway,  he  fell  into  a  moody  and  not  amiable 
humor.  Agnes,  piqued  by  his  sudden  change,  said  nothing. 
When  they  came  to  the  Marbury  lane,  Darcy  turned  his 
horse's  head  to  the  gate. 


286  THE  ALIENS. 

"  I  want  to  see  a  friend  in  here  a  moment ;  will  you 
wait  for  me  ? — I  sha'n't  be  a  moment." 

He  got  down,  swung  the  gate  back,  and,  leading  his 
horse,  went  up  the  well-known  way.  There  was  no  one 
at  the  house,  apparently,  for  he  was  suffered  to  tie  the 
horse,  and  had  nearly  reached  the  door  when  Amelia  met 
him,  coming  from  the  dairy.  She  looked  at  him  with  sur 
prised,  vague  recognition,  but  waited  until  he  spoke. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon.  This  is  Mrs.  Marbury,  is  it  not  ? 
I  am  looking  for  Denis.  Is  he  near  the  house  ? " 

"  Denis  is  over  in  the  brook-meadow  with  my  husband. 
Just  come  in  and  sit  down,  and  I  will  blow  the  horn,  for 
him." 

"  Ah,  thank  you  kindly.  I  won't  go  in  ;  I  must  keep 
an  eye  on  the  horse.  If  you  will  give  me  the  horn  I  will 
sound  it  and  meet  Denis  as  he  comes." 

She  took  the  horn  from  the  nail  inside  the  kitchen 
door,  saying,  "Two  blasts  for  Denny — I  suppose  you 
know  ?  " 

He  laughed.  "Yes,  I  know  the  signals  pretty  well." 
He  blew  with  some  difficulty  two  strident  notes,  and 
heard  a  distant  responsive  halloo  from  the  fields.  Pres 
ently  through  the  green  alders  he  saw  some  one  in  shirt 
sleeves  coming  toward  the  house.  He  set  off  to  meet  him 
half  way,  and,  as  Denny  recognized  the  visitor,  he  hastened 
his  pace.  The  lad's  eyes  brightened  as  he  came  near,  and 
Darcy  gave  him  his  hand. 

"  Denny,  I've  been  as  good  as  my  word.  You  are  to 
go  into  Uncle  Darcy's  law-office,  and,  while  you  are 
studying,  you  shall  earn  enough  to  keep  you  by  teaching 
in  the  academy,  when  there  is  a  tutorship  vacant." 

"  O  Mr.  Warchester,  how  good  you  are  !  What  shall 
I  say  ?  How  can  I  show  you  what  I  feel  ? "  and  Denny's 
eyes  moistened  as  he  turned  his  head  away. 


COWARD  CONSCIENCE.  287 

"  Fudge !  you  must  not  take  things  so  seriously.  I 
dare  say  you  will  put  me  to  shame  before  many  years  by 
the  progress  you  make.  But  I'm  not  envious.  I  shall 
rejoice  in  your  success — mind  that !  Ah,  yes  ;  I've  more 
good  news.  I've  seen  Norah." 

"  Seen  Norah  !  when  ? " 

Darcy  told  the  two  encounters,  and  continued  : 

"  Now,  if  I  might  advise  you,  I  would  say  nothing  to 
the  people  here — not  even  to  Aunt  Selina." 

"  Ah,  Mr.  Warchester,  Aunt  Selina  has  gone  to  Salem. 
She  couldn't  get  along  with  Amelia — she — she — Amelia 
persists  in  calling  Norah — a  thief!  " 

"Good  God,  Denis,  she  didn't  say  that  of  Norah! 
Surely  she  can't  know  what  a  tender,  modest,  shy  child 
your  sister  is."  Darcy  grew  pale,  and  his  eyes  moistened. 
He  turned  and  brushed  his  forehead  furtively.  "  It  can't 
be,  Denis  !  there  must  be  some  motive  for  Mrs.  Marbury's 
cruel  persecution  !  I  will  make  Lady  Molly  come  out  to 
Marbury  to  stop  this  dreadful  little  woman's  cruelty.  Dr. 
Marbury  was  my  father's  oldest  and  closest  school-fellow 
and,  as  the  Doctor  often  told  us,  he  loved  Norah  better 
than  any  child  of  his  own.  We — I  owe  it  to  the  kind 
Doctor's  memory,  to  see  that  his  ward  is  not  wronged  or 
maltreated." 

Denny  looked  at  him  in  bewilderment,  and  Darcy 
recollected  his  rdle  in  time  to  add  :  "  Any  one  who  could 
be  so  cruel  to  a  defenseless  girl  must  have  a  good  deal  of 
the  Satanic  in  her  nature  !  " 

"  But  you  don't  know  where  Norah  is? "  Denny  asked 
recurring  to  the  point  that  interested  him  most. 

"No,  but  I  feel  sure  she  is  happy  and  safe,  for  she 
wouldn't  be  gathering  flowers  if  she  were  in  trouble." 

Denny   assented,  dreamily:      "She   never  loved   the 
fields  except  when  she  was  peaceful  and  happy.      Ah, 
13 


288  THE  ALIENS. 

thank  God,  she  is  safe,  and  thank  you  for  being  so  kind 
to  strangers.  You  know  we  Irish  have  a  saying  about 
friends  in  need." 

"  No — what  is  it  ?  "  asked  Darcy,  his  heart  smiting  him 
sharply. 

"A  friend  in  need  is  the  hand  of  God,"  said  Denny 
solemnly.  "  For  him  we  would  go  through  fire  and  water ; 
for  him  we  would  burn  our  flesh,  break  our  bones,  deny 
our  kin,  and  abjure  all  but  faith  in  God." 

"  It  is  too  serious  a  creed,  Denny,  my  boy,  and  re 
minds  me  of  the  Arab  tradition :  '  Don't  count  friends 
until  you've  proved  them.' "  And,  with  this  bit  of  wis 
dom,  dictated  by  conscience  pricking  him  sorely  at  the 
moment,  Darcy  moved  toward  the  gate.  "When  will  you 
come  ? " 

"  I  will  tell  Byron,  and  go  at  once — perhaps  in  a  day 
or  two." 

"  Very  well ;  you  can  come  right  to  our  house,  and  we 
will  hunt  up  quarters  for  you  when  you  come."  He 
leaped  lightly  on  his  horse.  Denny  secretly  thought  him 
an  Antinous  of  grace,  and  trotted  beside  him  down  the 
lane,  to  close  the  gate.  Darcy  looked  about  in  surprise. 
There  was  no  sign  of  Agnes.  But  Denis  caught  sight  of 
her  in  the  clover-field  beyond,  and  pointed  her  out  to 
Darcy.  He  hallooed,  and  she  made  a  sign  that  she  heard 
him,  touched  her  horse,  and  made  toward  the  road,  and, 
to  the  surprise  of  the  young  men,  cleared  the  four  rails 
like  a  Centaur.  Then,  with  a  signal  to  Darcy  to  catch 
her,  set  off  homeward  like  an  arrow.  Denny  watched  the 
figures  as  they  disappeared.  His  heart  was  very  light,  for 
it  was  buoyed  with  an  overmastering  grateful  love,  and  he 
blessed  the  brave  young  rider  as  his  fine  form  was  lost  to 
sight.  When  he  got  back  to  the  house,  Amelia  came  out 
as  he  was  passing  the  door. 


COWARD  CONSCIENCE.  289 

"  That  was  young  Warchester,  wa'n't  it  ?  " 

"Yes,  that's  Mr.  Darcy,  the  Colonel's  son." 

"  Hello,  what's  the  trouble  ? "  Byron  came  hurrying  up 
as  Denny  spoke.  "Who  was  that  gal  I  saw  leap  the 
fence  ?  By  Jemmie,  she  did  it  like  a  pigeon.  I  never  saw 
anything  cleverer." 

"I  don't  know  the  young  lady,"  said  Denny;  "the 
gentleman  was  Mr.  Warchester." 

"  What  did  he  want — who  does  he  know  here  ? "  Byron 
asked,  in  surprise. 

"Oh,  he  used  to  come  here  when  your  father  was 
alive.  He  knew  Aunt  Selina,"  Denny  answered,  evasive 
ly.  He  shrank  from  telling  Darcy's  mission  before  Ame 
lia.  She  detected  something  of  his  reserve  in  his  manner, 
and,  glancing  significantly  at  Byron  as  Denny  hurried 
away,  said  : 

"  I  think  he  didn't  come  to  see  Aunt  Selina.  I  saw 
him  in  the  dairy  with  that  bold  hussy,  Norah,  a  few  days 
after  we  came  !  " 

Byron  started  and  flushed.  His  suspicions  were  at 
once  alert.  He  heard  Amelia's  story,  and  made  up  his 
mind  that  he  had  the  mystery  of  the  jewels  and  the  dis 
appearance.  When  the  two  returned  to  the  field,  Byron 
led  the  conversation  to  Darcy,  and  Denny  prattled  artlessly 
and  ardently  of  the  princely  young  paragon  ;  of  his  con 
descension  in  strolling  through  the  woods,  and  the  visits 
he  made  the  summer  of  his  stay  at  Malvern  to  the  Doctor 
and  Aunt  Selina.  When  the  tale  was  told,  Denny  falter- 
ingly  imparted  the  secret  of  Darcy's  mission.  Byron  threw 
down  his  scythe — he  was  mowing — and  stared  at  the 
lad. 

"  But  you  can't  leave  us  ;  you  were  bound  to  my  father. 
I  have  the  papers." 

"  Bound  until  my  eighteenth  year.     I  was  eighteen  last 


290 


THE  ALIENS. 


year;  besides,  the  plan  to  study  law  was  Dr.  Marbury's. 
He  meant  that  I  should  begin  at  college  long  ago." 

Denny  suffered  a  cruel  ordeal  before  the  final  parting. 
Byron  gloomily  charged  him  with  ingratitude,  and  pro 
phesied  that  he  would  come  to  no  good.  Amelia  tossed 
her  head  and  sniffed  when  the  departure  was  announced 
to  her. 

"  I  ain't  a  bit  surprised.  It's  just  Irish  all  over.  You 
pick  them  out  of  the  gutter,  and,  as  soon  as  you've  made 
folks  of  them,  they  just  ride  right  over  you.  But  I 
want  you  to  know,  young  man,  that,  once  you've  stepped 
over  that  doorsill  with  your  pack,  you  need  never  come 
back  here  again  when  your  fine  city  friends  get  tired  of 
you.  The  poor-house  won't  be  far  away.  You  were  there 
once,  and  you  can  find  it  easy  again." 

So,  penniless  as  he  had  come,  but,  ah !  so  light  of 
heart,  so  radiant  in  hope,  the  lad  of  nineteen  left  the  kindly 
walls  that  had  been  shelter  and  joy  since,  an  urchin  of 
seven  or  eight,  he  had  entered  its  sacred  portals.  His 
heart  was  light,  but  there  were  tears,  hot  and  half  sad,  as 
he  turned  on  the  green  hill-side  and  saw  the  red  walls 
gleaming  through  the  apple-trees.  Long  sweeps  of  dusty 
road,  hemmed  with  tender  green,  lay  before  him,  and  he 
trudged  on,  boy-like,  casting  the  past  behind  and  wonder 
ing  where  his  new  destiny  was  to  carry  him.  But  it  was 
as  well  that  he  could  not  see  far  into  the  future,  for  I 
doubt  whether  the  buoyancy  of  youth  or  the  ardor  of  hope 
would  have  upheld  his  purpose  to  penetrate  into  the  night 
that  began  to  descend  upon  him. 

Within  a  week  he  was  installed  as  mathematical  in 
structor  in  the  Fitzhugh  Academy,  and  one  of  the  first 
pupils  that  entered  his  room  was  Dilly  Dane  !  I  am  afraid 
the  girls  thought  this  new  teacher  a  very  abstracted  and 
embarrassed  young  man  that  day,  for  he  made  the  most  pre- 


COWARD  CONSCIENCE. 


291 


posterous  definitions  and  deductions,  and  fairly  shook  the 
faith  of  the  advanced  minds  in  the  exactness  of  the  sci 
ence  of  equations.  Before  many  days  Dilly  found  means 
of  giving  her  old  playmate  a  rendezvous,  and  then  the 
two  had  much  to  tell.  The  girl  had  grown  in  city  graces, 
but  she  was  still  the  same  faithful,  tender,  constant  friend, 
and  looked  calmly  into  Denny's  eyes  with  a  fervor  that  a 
lad  less  timid  would  have  understood.  But  to  Denny  there 
was  a  gulf — the  more  impassable  that  it  was  intangible — 
which  in  his  wildest  dreams  he  never  thought  of  passing. 
That  the  adorable  creature  should  think  him  worthy  of 
friendship  and  confidence  was  a  bliss  so  unmerited,  so  un 
hoped,  that  he  lived  in  the  joy  of  its  realization  as  one 
more  adventurous  would  have  lived  in  the  certainty  of  the 
fulfillment  of  love's  hope. 

Life  opened  before  him  now  with  all  the  roseate  lamps, 
youth  and  hope  hang  in  the  horizon.  His  alien  race  was 
no  longer  made  a  reproach.  Kindness  and  consideration 
met  him  among  his  associates  in  the  academy,  where  the 
patronage  of  the  Warchesters  was  potential.  He  had  one 
reminder  of  other  and  bitterer  days,  however.  He  was  in 
the  college  library  one  day,  when  he  recognized  a  familiar 
face.  It  was  Oswald  Ritter.  He  was,  he  informed  Denny 
proudly,  in  his  senior  year,  and  would  graduate  class  orator 
in  a  few  months.  His  father  was  now  rich.  He  had  ap 
plied  a  new  principle  to  brewing,  and  was  at  the  head  of 
a  great  corporation  exploiting  the  patent.  Denny  returned 
to  the  book-shelves,  and  a  few  minutes  later  he  heard 
some  one  asking  Oswald  who  the  studious-looking  person 
was. 

"  Oh,  he's  an  Irishman  that  used  to  live  out  at  Mar- 
bury.  He's  a  teacher,  or  tutor,  or  something  of  the  sort 
in  Madam  Fitz's." 

Thereafter,  whenever  he  appeared  in  the  campus,  libra- 


2Q2 


THE  ALIENS. 


ry,  or  chapel,  he  could  see  that  the  tale  had  been  told, 
and,  where  before  he  had  been  regarded  with  respectful 
curiosity,  he  now  met  insolent  stares  and  suppressed  sneers. 
But  these  things  had  no  present  terror  for  him.  He  met 
liberal  toleration  from  some  of  the  faculty,  to  whom  Darcy 
had  spoken  in  his  behalf,  and,  with  the  purposes  animating 
him,  no  evidence  of  social  disparagement  could  shake  his 
determination  or  long  cloud  his  happiness. 

Lady  Molly,  too,  was  persistently  gracious  to  him.  She 
insisted  on  his  calling  and  dining.  Even  my  lord  took  a 
languid  interest  in  him,  and  affably  discussed  French  his 
tory  over  the  sherry  and  walnuts.  My  lord  had  com 
manded  a  squadron  of  cavalry  at  Walcheren,  and,  when 
he  found  any  one  so  well  posted  on  the  career  of  Napoleon 
as  Denny,  he  made  himself  happy  by  the  hour  fighting  his 
battles  over  again.  He  was  severely  shocked  at  Denny's 
glorification  of  the  emperor  and  his  poor  opinion  of  Well 
ington's  generalship,  and  set  himself,  with  an  ardor  never 
before  known  in  him,  to  prove  "  the  duke's  "  superiority 
to  "Bonaparte."  -He  insisted  on  calling  Napoleon  "Bo 
naparte,"  as  the  fashion  was  after  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons,  and  was  quite  helpless  with  astonishment  when 
Denny  slyly  interpolated,  each  time  reference  was  made 
to  "the  duke,"  "What  duke  ?" 

"  Why,  Wellington,  of  course.  That  is  the  title  he  is 
known  by  from  Moscow  to  Naples,  and  that  is  the  title  he 
will  be  known  by  in  history.  It  is  only  necessary  to  say 
'  the  duke '  anywhere  in  Europe,  and  every  one  will  know 
whom  you  mean." 

"Sure,  you  ought  to  loike  th'  juke,  Denny,  me  lad; 
he  was  Irish,  like  ourselves — God  bless  him  !  "  Lady  Molly 
cried  out,  as  Lord  Poultney  gathered  breath  for  a  fresh 
flight. 

"Yes,    Denis,    Lord    Wellington's    family  was    Irish, 


COWARD  CONSCIENCE.  293 

and  some  of  his  majesty's  best  troops  came  from  Ire 
land." 

"Ye  can't  make  th'  Americans  believe  that  then,"  cries 
Lady  Molly,  laughing  wickedly.  "  They  think  we're  all 
bogtrotters  and  Rapparees,  bedad  !  "  She  was  fond  of  her 
most  piquant  Hibernicisms  when  talking  at  her  own  table, 
and  my  lord  encouraged  her  with  roars  of  laughter,  for  it 
was  one  of  the  merry  dame's  charms  to  mimic  her  rural 
countrymen. 

"  Yes,  my  Lady  Poultney,"  said  Denny  quite  soberly. 
"  Why  is  it  that  Americans  so  mislike  us,  look  down  upon 
us,  and  revile  us;  why  are  we  from  our  mere  birth  placed 
a  degraded,  a  disclassed — if  I  may  use  the  word — race  ? 
Ireland  has  produced  men  of  letters  equal  to  the  best  that 
wrote  in  the  English  tongue  :  statesmen ;  soldiers  ;  stu 
dents.  I  could  understand  it  if  we  were  like  the  Saxons 
that  William  conquered,  or  the  Gauls  that  withstood  Cae 
sar,  or  the  Italians  that  held  their  necks  for  Spanish, 
French,  and  Austrian  heels ;  but  a  people  that  has  pro 
duced  a  Swift,  a  Spencer,  a  Moore,  a%  Sheridan,  a  Burke, 
an  O'Connell — I  can't  understand  it." 

"It's  simple  enough,  Denny,"  Lord  Poultney  rejoined, 
briskly.  "  This  slice  of  country  was  settled  by  the  Puritans. 
Their  descendants  are  the  majority  in  all  this  part  of  the 
States.  When  the  Puritans  quit  England — I  mean  those  who 
fled  during  the  reigns  of  Charles  II  and  James — the  Irish 
were  hated  and  dreaded  by  the  English  people,  as  the  In 
dians  in  the  West  are  by  the  pioneers.  The  colonies  planted 
in  Ireland  by  Cromwell  were  engaged  in  constant  warfare 
with  the  Irish  ;  neither  side  gave  quarter.  The  Irish,  dispos 
sessed  of  their  lands,  and  pillaged  by  Strongbow's  troopers, 
were  not  scrupulous  in  reprisal.  The  stories  of  these 
atrocities  reached  England,  and  the  Irish  name  became  sy 
nonymous  with  ignorance,  barbarity,  and  rapine.  To  make 


294 


THE  ALIENS. 


it  worse,  King  James  attempted  to  make  himself  absolute  in 
England  by  the  use  of  Irish  soldiers,  and  was  driven  from 
his  throne.  When  the  English  in  the  Americans  has  been 
worn  out,  the  prejudice  against  the  Irish  will  vanish.  It 
is  because  the  Irish  have  been  for  generations  a  robbed 
and  wronged  people  that  the  English  hate  and  despise 
them.  We  never  hate  any  one  so  much  as  the  men  we 
have  wronged !  " 

Lord  Poultney  leaned  back  in  his  chair  after  this  as 
tonishing  manifesto,  and  Lady  Molly  took  up  the  tale  : 

"Ye're  surprised  to  hear  me  Lord  Poultney  talking 
like  this,  Denny,  dear  ?  The  Poultneys  are  true  Irish  blood. 
They  are  a  clane  house,  and  stud  with  the  patriots  in 
'  ninety-eight.'  But  don't  trouble  yerself  about  what  the 
Americans  think  of  ye ;  sure  it's  pure  ignorance.  Whin  ye 
go  to  Naples,  the  besotted  beggars  there  look  down  on 
Americans  as  Americans  look  down  on  the  Mexicans. 
Indeed,  there  isn't  a  country  in  Europe  where  Americans 
aren't  thought  a  cross  betune  a  Camanche  and  a  Nagur." 
And  Lady  Molly  appealed  to  her  lord,  as  being  more  trav 
eled,  to  expatiate  on  the  point. 

Denny  carried  a  good  deal  of  comfort  away  from  these 
discussions,  and  found  himself  fortified  against  the  covert 
sarcasms  that  from  time  to  time  met  him  on  account  of 
his  nationality,  or  his  origin  rather,  for  he  was  very  proud 
of  being  a  citizen  of  the  Republic,  and  a  worshiper  of  Jef 
ferson — whom  he  had  studied  with  great  diligence,  led 
thereto  by  Dr.  Marbury,  who  pronounced  that  great  man 
the  stoutest  friend  of  humanity  since  Voltaire. 


BETWEEN  TWO  LOVES.  295 


CHAPTER   XX. 

BETWEEN    TWO    LOVES. 

BENT  upon  finding  Norah,  now  that  the  Fates  seemed 
to  make  a  mock  of  his  resolution,  Darcy  gave  himself  up 
to  long  evening  walks  and  loiterings  in  the  churches. 
Often  in  the  twilight  he  encountered  a  trim  figure  among 
the  evening  companies,  that  he  felt  sure  was  hers,  but  so 
soon  as  he  caught  the  tones  of  the  voice  he  turned  away 
in  disgust.  He  paid  his  court  to  Agnes  meanwhile  in  the 
most  perfunctory  and  unloverlike  fashion.  Indeed,  there 
was  something  so  much  like  estrangement  that  Madame 
Warchester  felt  called  upon  to  intervene. 

"  You  must  really  show  yourself  more  devoted  to  your 
fianctfe,  my  son,  or  she  will  give  her  heart  to  some  one 
else,  and  you  know  she  won't  have  to  wait  for  a  choice." 

"  What  more  can  she  ask  ?  I  am  to  be  her  husband — 
isn't  that  enough  ?  As  for  giving  her  heart  to  some  one 
else — I  don't  think  you  need  fear.  She  is  the  last  girl  in 
the  world  to  let  her  heart  be  at  the  mercy  of  a  passing 
encounter.  You  wouldn't  have  me  writing  sonnets  to  her 
and  sighing  at  her  feet  all  the  time  !  " 

"  Monstrous,  Darcy  !  Monstrous !  I  never  heard  a 
lover  talk  in  this  cynical  fashion.  When  I  was  young,  the 
colonel  rode  over  every  day — ten  miles  or  more — to  '  take 
my  commands,'  as  he  called  it.  Any  other  gallant  that 
paid  me  court  had  to  wait  for  a  chance,  while  you  leave 
Agnes  to  go  where  she  will,  with  whom  she  will,  and  I 
really  believe  you  don't  care  a  rush." 

"  I  can't  say  that  I  do — for  these  things.  If  Agnes 
enjoys  other  gallants,  she  will  hold  me  in  good  part  for  let 
ting  her  enjoy  herself.  By-and-by,  when  we  are  Darby  and 


296  THE  ALIENS. 

Joan,  she  can't  indulge  these  gallantries,  and  I  think  it  mag 
nanimous  in  me  to  leave  her  free  now,"  and  Darcy  retired 
precipitately  from  an  encounter  in  which  he  felt  he  was  not 
armed  adequately.  He  sauntered  pensively  through  the 
busy  streets  to  the  most  thriving  quarter  of  the  town,  with 
an  idle  fancy  that  he  would  look  in  on  Denny  in  Uncle 
Darcy's  law  office.  As  he  ascended  the  stairs  his  eye  en 
countered  the  name  "  Frederic  Darwin,  Artist."  He  had 
met  the  young  man  some  time  before  and  had  promised 
him  a  sitting.  He  might  as  well  give  it  now  as  any  time, 
he  resolved  suddenly,  and  on  the  impulse  he  entered  the 
studio.  Darwin  was  at  work  on  an  allegorical  group,  and 
after  shaking  hands  with  his  visitor  continued  the  sketch. 

"  Just  amuse  yourself  looking  at  the  traps  and  sketches. 
I  will  give  you  my  'art  and  'and  in  a  minute  or  two." 

Darcy  was  too  much  engrossed  in  a  fanciful  head  in 
crayon  to  note  the  pun.  He  recognized  the  original  in  an 
instant.  It  was  an  idealized  portrait  of  Norah,  standing 
on  a  Queen  Mab  car  surrounded  by  elfin  figures. 

"  A  charming  head,  that,"  he  said  carelessly,  over  his 
shoulder,  to  the  artist.  "  She  seems  to  be  a  favorite  with 
you.  I  see  you  have  her  face  in  most  of  your  sketches." 

"  Yes,  that  is  the  most  perfect  Madonna  model  I  ever 
saw.  She  is  incomparably  finer  than  anything  I  can  do 
with  her  in  colors.  You  can  have  no  idea  of  her  beauty 
without  seeing  her." 

"You  saw  her  abroad,  I  suppose?  We  don't  have 
mild,  angelic  beauties  of  that  type  in  these  wild-wood 
towns." 

"  Oh,  dear,  no  !  I  met  her  in  this  city.  She  lives  in 
the  'Blue  Jay,'  and,  'pon  my  soul,  she's  such  a  delight 
that  I've  cast  my  lines  here  simply  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  her." 

So,  at  last,  he  had  found  her,  when  she  seemed  to  be 


BETWEEN  TWO  LOVES. 


297 


completely  lost  to  him.  He  burned  with  impatience  to 
quit  the  studio  and  fly  to  her.  But  he  restrained  his  eager 
ness,  gave  a  sitting,  and  presently  he  was  at  the  "  Blue 
Jay."  He  entered  the  homely,  old-fashioned  "office," 
very  unlike  the  elaborate  "  bureaus  "  of  to-day,  and,  sitting 
down  near  the  window,  asked  to  be  served  a  bottle  of  ale. 
He  knew  Blythe  passingly,  and  the  loquacious  host,  in  the 
interval  of  his  "  chores,"  often  discussed  politics  in  a  friendly 
bout  with  him. 

"  I  suppose,  Mr.  Darcy,  you'll  be  off  to  the  wars  in  the 
spring  if  the  President  calls  for  volunteers  ? " 

"  Yes,  I  shall  take  a  company  ;  but  I'm  afraid  the 
Mexicans  won't  give  us  the  chance.  It  looks  as  if  Santa 
Anna  meant  to  back  down.  The  Texas  people  seem  to 
have  been  too  much  for  him." 

"  I've  got  a  brother  in  New  Orleans,  and  he  writes  that 
there's  bound  to  be  fun.  So  you  may  just  as  well  make 
up  your  mind  to  hear  the  music  of  the  drum  for  a  spell,  or 
I'll  miss  my  guess." 

"I'm  sure  I  hope  you're  a  prophet,  Blythe.  I'm  tired 
of  this  quiet  life  ;  I  should  like  to  see  some  excitement," 
Darcy  said,  a  little  distraught. 

"  Yes,  it  might  be  a  trifle  dull  here  for  a  young  fellow, 
unless  he  is  fond  of  fishing.  Naow,  if  you  took  to  fishin' 
— darn  that  boy  !  he's  gone  and  mixed  up  my  hooks  to 
that  pass  that  I  sha'n't  know  which  is  trout  and  which 
pickerel,"  and,  disconcerted  by  this  mishap,  the  fisherman 
forgot  the  thread  of  his  talk,  muttering  mild  imprecations 
on  the  head  of  the  urchin. 

"That  boy  never  was  wuth  a  cent,  but  he's  just  no 
'count  at  all  sence  Norah  began  to  fill  his  head  with  them 
'tarnal  stories." 

"I  didn't  know  you  had  a  daughter,  Blythe,"  said 
Darcy,  seeing  a  chance  to  ask  a  question. 


298  THE  ALIENS. 

11  Oh,  Norah  ain't  our  daughter  ;  she's  our  cousin,  you 
know — kinder  adoptive,  but  cousin  all  the  same.  Darn 
that  boy  !  here's  my  sinkers  all  gone.  Manly,  Manly,  you 
denied  little  cuss,  I  say,  come  right  here  !  " 

But  no  Manly  coming,  the  indignant  parent  arose  and 
sallied  out  in  search  of  the  delinquent.  As  he  passed  into 
the  hall,  the  door  of  the  modest  reception-room  opened, 
and  Norah,  putting  her  head  in,  said  : 

"  Manly's  gone  to  the  river." 

"  Norah !  " 

"  Ah,  Mr.  Darcy  !  " 

In  an  instant  he  was  at  her  side,  pressing  her  fondly 
to  him.  She  broke  away,  retreating  toward  the  other  room. 
He  closed  the  door  softly,  and,  as  she  turned  piteous,  en 
treating,  he  whispered  passionately  : 

"  My  darling  !  my  darling  !  you  shall  never  hide  from 
me  again  !  Why  didn't  you  come  to  me  when  that  wretch 
accused  you  ?  Why  didn't  you  let  me  know  ?  If  you 
knew  how  your  flight  has  worried  me,  to  say  nothing  of 
Denny,  you  could  not  have  been  so  cruel." 

His  questions  were  so  rapid,  his  embrace  so  close,  that 
she  could  hardly  get  her  breath  to  answer : 

"  O  Mr.  Darcy !  it's  a  great  misfortune  that  you  have 
found  me.  It  isn't  well  for  us  to  meet.  It  will  be  your 
disgrace  to  be  known  as  the  friend  of  the  likes  of  me." 

"  Disgrace,  you  witch  !  It  is  my  pride,  my  joy.  I  will 
declare  from  whom  the  jewels  came.  I  will  prove  that 
you  are  the  purest  angel  breathing." 

"  Mr.  Darcy,  don't  stay  here.  Some  one  will  come, 
and  what  sort  of  a  bold  girl  will  they  think  me  to  be  talk 
ing  like  this  with  a  strange  young  man  ?  Ah,  go  !  go  !  " 

"Yes,  my  darling,  I  will  go,  but  you  must  meet  me 
when  the  twilight  comes  in  the  grove  by  our  park-gates. 
Bring  the  little  boy  with  you,  and  then  you  can  remain 


BETWEEN  TWO  LOVES.  299 

unnoticed  and  tell  me  all ;  and  I  will  tell  you  about 
Denny." 

Frightened  and  rapturous,  she  clung  to  him  in  a  part 
ing  embrace — she  was  still  rosy  and  palpitating  when 
Jonas's  heavy  tread  resounded  on  the  sanded  floor.  He 
looked  about  the  room  in  perplexity  when  he  saw  Darcy's 
seat  vacant,  and,  with  renewed  objurgations  against  Manly, 
set  about  re-adjusting  his  "tackle." 

When  twilight  came,  Norah,  with  Manly  disporting 
himself  gayly,  set  out  falteringly  for  the  tryst.  Darcy 
was  waiting.  As  the  two  came  up,  he  said,  ingratiat 
ingly  : 

"  Well,  Manly,  what's  become  of  your  squirrel  ?  " 

Now  Manly  had  been  caught  in  the  Warchester  hick 
ories  trapping  squirrels.  The  gardener  had  haled  the 
culprit  before  the  Colonel,  but  Darcy  had  good-naturedly 
intervened  and  presented  him  with. the  booty.  Manly  had 
never  divulged  this  experience  at  home.  He  therefore 
hung  back  awkwardly,  abashed  when  confronted  by  his 
benefactor.  Darcy  stroked  the  boy's  shaggy  hair  good- 
naturedly,  and  said,  encouragingly : 

"  Come  into  the  park ;  I  will  show  you  where  the  owls 
hold  their  concerts.  This  is  your  cousin  Norah,  is  it? 
She  shall  come  too  ? " 

Darcy's  acquaintance  with  Norah  did  not  strike  the 
lad  as  at  all  curious.  He  supposed  that  everybody  knew 
Norah.  They  lingered  in  the  park,  and  as  the  moon  arose 
walked  down  to  the  water's  edge,  where  a  pretty  boat- 
house  stood  on  the  shelving  bank.  Darcy  took  the  key 
from  his  pocket  and  opened  the  door.  It  was  more  like  a 
pavilion  than  a  boat-house.  There  were  three  rooms, 
handsomely  furnished,  one  of  them  a  sort  of  studio  where 
Darcy  had  employed  his  taste  in  decoration.  The  walls 
were  lined  with  prints,  and  small  statuettes  of  heroes, 


300 


THE  ALIENS. 


graces,  and  goddesses  rested  on  fragile  brackets  between 
the  other  works  of  art.  Darcy  slipped  one  of  the  boats 
from  the  rest,  and  the  three  getting  in,  the  little  shallop 
was  soon  gliding  over  the  moonlit  waters.  Presently  they 
returned  and  sat  on  the  little  balcony  overhanging  the 
plashing  water.  Manly,  however,  found  this  irksome  after 
the  joy  of  the  boat,  and  begged  to  be  permitted  to  paddle 
out  in  the  little  cove.  Darcy  assented  with  alacrity,  for 
while  the  boy  hovered  near  he  had  no  opportunity  of 
talking  with  Norah.  She  explained  her  purpose  in  quit 
ting  Marbury  without  touching  Byron's  part  of  the  busi 
ness.  Then  Darcy  told  her  of  Denny's  translation.  She 
was  greatly  perplexed  now.  She  was  hungering  to  see 
Denny,  but  feared  that  if  she  discovered  her  whereabouts 
to  him  that  Byron  would  get  track  of  her.  He  could  com 
pel  her  return  to  Marbury,  and  rather  than  go  back  she 
would  fly  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Darcy  couldn't  under 
stand  her  horror  of  returning,  but  it  was  delicious  to  have 
her  so  near  ;  he  made  no  urgent  plea  that  she  should 
either  summon  Denny  or  return.  The  bells  were  ringing 
for  nine  o'clock  when  Norah  was  reminded  of  the  lateness 
of  the  hour,  and  called  to  Manly. 

"You  will  come  again  to-morrow  night,  Norah  ?  " 

"  No ;  I  think  it  will  be  better  not.  I  will  come 
some  time,  perhaps,  but  I  won't  say.  Don't  ask  me  !  Oh, 
don't ! " 

"  Foolish  Norah  !  You  will  come,  I  know  you  will. 
You  wouldn't  be  at  rest  if  you  knew  I  was  unhappy,  and 
you  know  very  well  I  should  be  miserable  here  sitting  with 
my  heart  aching  and  thinking  every  sound  was  the  echo 
of  your  footfall !  " 

But  Norah  wouldn't  promise,  and  hastened  away  with 
the  delighted  Manly,  to  whom  Darcy  had  whispered  a 
caution  to  say  nothing  at  home  of  where  he  had  been  or 


BETWEEN  TWO  LOVES.  301 

whom  he  had  seen.  The  gossips  had  separated  when 
the  pair  reached  the  Blue  Jay.  Marcus  Dunn  was  sitting 
with  Mrs.  Blythe,  and  looked  up  questioningly  as  Norah, 
flushed  and  breathless,  sat  down  where  the  dim  lights  of 
the  candles  threw  her  discomposed  visage  into  friendly 
obscurity.  Darcy  waited  in  the  park  the  next  and  many 
nights  thereafter,  but  Norah  did  not  come.  He  raged 
like  a  young  Narcissus  denied  the  mirror  of  his  beauty. 
What !  Norah  suddenly  transformed  into  a  wiseacre — 
into  a  prude  !  His  sweet  wood-nymph,  that  had  no  duty 
but  beauty,  that  had  no  thought  but  of  pleasing  him,  sud 
denly  turned  coy,  and,  like  the  children  of  Lamech, 
grown  into  the  knowledge  of  Death  !  As  well  might  a 
flower  refuse  to  open  its  petals  because  the  wind  blew,  and 
the  chill  of  autumn  inevitably  must  come  to  scatter  its 
leaves  with  its  fragrance.  Ah,  the  tree  of  knowledge  had 
bloomed  in  Norah 's  path  since  he  had  known  her  in  her 
Arcady,  where  all  was  innocence,  and  love  was  her  minis 
try  !  He  wouldn't  endure  it !  What,  he  who  had  fought 
the  fight  and  conquered  himself,  to  be  made  the  object  of 
an  unreasoning  terror ! 

He  flamed  with  indignant  protest.  He,  who  would 
have  served  as  the  tree-imprisoned  god,  a  sacrifice  to 
spotlessness — he  shunned  by  the  sprite  !  He  swore  a 
dreadful  oath  that  he  would  not  be  so  put  upon.  He 
wandered  down  to  the  leafy  square  near  the  "  Blue  Jay," 
where  the  voices  of  the  gossips  on  the  veranda  angered 
him.  He  listened  for  the  one  voice,  the  lightest  cadence 
of  which  he  could  have  recognized  in  a  clash  of  matter, 
but  its  music  did  not  mingle  with  the  shrill  clamor.  He 
passed  close  to  the  porch  and  looked  in.  Yes,  there  she 
was,  and  near  her,  holding  the  skein  of  her  worsted,  sat 
Marcus  Dunn  !  Darcy  could  hardly  resist  the  impulse  to 
enter  and  denounce  the  faithless  siren.  But  no  !  how 


302  THE  ALIENS. 

could  he  contain  himself  before  that  impassive  old  prig, 
Marcus  ?  He  should  only  make  matters  worse. 

He  wandered  home  moodily,  and  slunk  away  from  the 
gayety  of  the  drawing-room,  where  his  mother  was  enter 
taining  her  own  circle,  and  his  father  was  playing  his 
evening  rubber  with  the  bishop.  What  could  possess  the 
girl  ?  At  Marbury  she  seemed  to  divine  his  coming,  and 
her  eyes,  if  not  her  tongue,  pleaded  with  him  for  the  wood 
land  tryst.  Now  that  he  had  determined  to  teach  her  grad 
ually  that  their  paths  in  future  must  be  divided ;  now  that 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  show  her  that  their  relations 
must  be  purely  Platonic,  that  she  must  look  on  him  as  she 
did  on  Denny  ;  she  fled  from  him  with  cruel  distrust !  A 
father-confessor  could  not  have  asked  her  to  the  rendez 
vous  with  more  saintly  tenderness  than  had  actuated  him  ! 

It  was  unendurable  ;  just  when  he  had  armed  himself 
for  self-conquest  to  be  stripped  of  his  heroic  panoply  by 
this  insulting  doubt.  And  all  the  time — concurrent  with 
this  specious,  delusive  sophistry — the  quenchless  yearning 
to  hold  the  lovely  form  in  his  arms,  to  look  into  the  clear 
eyes  and  read  the  idolatry  of  the  beating  heart !  Wild 
resolves  to  carry  Norah  far  away,  make  her  his  bride, 
and  live  in  the  forest,  alternated  with  Spartan  determina 
tion  to  see  her  no  more,  to  erase  this  tantalizing  image 
from  his  heart  and  follow  the  path  traced  by  his  mother. 
Oh,  yes,  if  the  path  had  not  been  of  that  other's  tracing,  it 
would  have  been  so  easy  to  follow.  If  he  had  won  Agnes 
through  his  own  initiative,  the  charm  of  conquest  would 
have  been  there  ;  but  now  !  ah  !  now  he  had  been  en 
trapped  into  a  yoke.  Now,  for  a  young  Hercules,  shapely 
and  well  favored,  this  was  a  reflection  that  cut  most  poign 
antly. 

Adonis  may  be  courted,  but  Adonis  can't  endure  be 
ing  made  a  market.  Why  shouldn't  he  be  free  to  choose 


BETWEEN  TWO  LOVES. 


303 


the  mate  of  his  heart  ?  The  dullest  clown  in  the  country 
was  free  to  love  where  he  pleased.  Where  had  Norah 
learned  this  repulsive  lesson  of  distrust  ?  Surely  there 
must  be  evil  influences  about  her  !  Could  it  be  that  Mar 
cus  had  instilled  the  poison  of  suspicion  into  her  guileless 
heart  ?  Of  herself,  Norah  knew  no  more  of  the  possibili 
ties  of  evil  than  of  its  form  or  appearance !  At  Marbury 
she  had  naively  worshiped  him  as  a  naiad  might  a  wood- 
god.  Now  she  fled  from  him  as  Diana  from  Actaeon. 

You  observe  in  his  introspection  Darcy 's  similes  and 
illustrations  were  all  classical.  In  those  days  the  youth  of 
his  degree  were  classicists,  and  all  the  stores  of  knowledge 
were  based  upon  the  conceits  of  the  schools.  Chapman's 
Homer  and  Pope's  verses  were  then  the  final  expression 
of  poetic  form.  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge  were  little 
known,  or,  if  known,  regarded  as  the  encyclopedists  re 
garded  Shakespeare  or  Spenser — creators  of  beauties  with 
out  form  or  coherence. 

Darcy  faced  himself  in  the  mirror  to  prove  to  himself 
that  he  was  a  St.  Anthony  successful  from  the  ordeal. 
His  lustrous  eyes  were  wide  open  and  clear,  there  was  no 
furtive  dodging  in  them.  His  round,  sensuous,  well- 
chiseled  lips  were  firm  and  truthful.  His  brown,  curling 
locks  framed  a  physiognomy  in  every  line  of  which  truth, 
manliness,  and  sincerity  were  outlined.  Why  should  any 
human  being  doubt  that  open  page?  He  had  no  doubt ; 
and  after  all,  if  one  can  believe  in  one's  self — most  rigorous 
of  judges — how  can  any  one  else  have  doubts  ?  Darcy 
snuffed  the  candles  and  lay  down,  feeling  himself  a  deeply 
injured  person,  and  in  his  dreams  he  sat  by  Norah,  and 
he  read  in  her  eyes  the  confession  that  she  had  deeply 
wronged  him. 

The  meditations  of  the  night  brought  no  soothings  or 
rest  to  his  perturbations.  He  resolved  to  see  Norah, 


304  THE  ALIENS. 

even  if  it  must  be  in  the  presence  of  the  Blue  Jay  gossips. 
He  wrote  a  note  and,  taking  it  himself  to  the  tap-room, 
waited  a  chance  to  slip  it  into  her  hands.  But  the  chance 
did  not  come,  and  he  was  finally  compelled  to  slip  it  into 
Manly's  hand  as  that  youth  lingered  fondly  about  him. 
He  asked  Manly  why  he  didn't  come  of  an  evening  to  the 
boat-house,  and  the  boy  aggrievedly  confided  to  him  that 
Mr.  Dunn  had  told  his  mother  that  it  was  improper  for  a 
young  girl  to  be  in  the  streets  so  late  without  a  grown 
person  for  escort.  That  he  had  offered  to  walk  with 
Norah,  but  that  she  had  not  cared  to  go  out  since  the 
evening  they  has  been  on  the  water. 

So,  he  reflected,  as  he  strode  away,  it  is  that  prig,  Mar 
cus,  that  has  interfered  !  What  could  it  mean  ?  Was  he 
fond  of  Norah  ?  Was  he  winning  her  love  ?  The  thought 
amused  him.  No,  Norah's  love  was  his,  but  all  the  same 
Dunn  had  put  notions  into  her  head  that  changed  her 
from  the  paradisaic  innocence  he  had  first  loved  in  her. 
She,  who  had  never  dreamed  of  such  a  thing  as  propriety 
or  impropriety  !  Oh,  it  was  damnable  to  destroy  the  per 
fect  child  of  Marbury,  and  he  raged  over  the  sinful  handi 
work  of  his  kinsman  as  the  companions  of  Cain  when 
they  found  he  had  brought  death  into  the  conditions  of 
life. 

The  small  Manly,  with  the  letter  and  a  shilling  alter 
nately  in  his  pocket  and  his  mouth,  retired  to  the  stable 
to  enjoy  the  sense  of  confidential  minister,  which  was 
growing  upon  him.  He  had  long  known  Darcy,  as  small 
boys  know  young  men  of  their  vicinage.  He  had  admired 
the  young  prince  darting  down  the  winding  roadways  in 
the  paternal  park,  and  had  stood  aside  with  awe  as  the 
young  patrician  passed  him  on  the  street.  Everybody 
knew  Darcy,  and  the  young  boys  admired  his  free  hand 
on  the  fourth  of  July,  and  the  wonderful  pyrotechnical 


BETWEEN  TWO  LOVES.  305 

exhibitions  which  he  made  from  the  Warchester  facade 
on  those  jubilee  occasions. 

When,  therefore,  Darcy's  whispered  confidences  at  the 
boat-house  had  made  Manly  a  sort  of  comrade,  that  small 
conspirator  had  much  the  feeling  of  an  acolyte  called  into 
the  mysteries  of  the  Delphic  oracle.  The  letter  would 
confirm  this  mystic  bond.  Perhaps  it  would  bring  the 
delights  of  the  boat-house  and  the  row  on  the  river.  Manly 
debated  with  the  colt  in  the  stable  the  best  way  of  reach 
ing  Norah  unseen  by  all  eyes.  It  would  not  do  to  call  her 
away  from  his  mother,  for  that  kindly  soul  was  curious  in 
all  that  went  on.  It  would  not  do  to  wait  until  Norah 
went  to  her  room,  for  then  it  would  be  too  late  to  go  to 
the  boat-house.  Manly  thought  of  various  devices  to 
bring  Norah  to  him.  At  first  he  meditated  cutting  his 
finger  and  setting  up  a  great  shout,  for,  whenever  he  met 
with  the  misfortunes  that  seem  to  come  to  small  boys  impar 
tially,  Norah  was  always  the  first  to  fly  to  him.  But  he 
wisely  concluded  that,  if  he  cut  his  finger,  he  could  not 
paddle  in  Darcy's  boat,  and  that  was  a  sacrifice  he  could 
not  summon  resolution  to  make  until  all  other  expedients 
failed. 

While  he  stood  staring  reflectively  into  the  wide-opened 
eyes  of  the  colt,  as  it  nibbled  at  the  hayseed  clinging  to 
his  garments,  he  heard  his  mother's  voice  calling  to  him. 
Thrusting  the  letter  into  his  pocket,  he  hurried  out.  His 
mother  was  on  the  back  porch  with  her  bonnet  on,  ready 
to  go  out.  She  commanded  her  son  to  accompany  her  to 
the  market — it  was  market-day — and  pointed  to  a  basket 
he  was  to  carry.  Manly  looked  ruefully  into  the  kitchen 
— Norah  was  nowhere  about — and,  with  sad  misgivings  that 
he  shouldn't  enjoy  Darcy's  boat  that  evening,  he  trudged 
off  with  his  mother.  At  the  market  Mrs.  Blythe  fell  in 
with  a  farmer  whose  store  of  butter  was  too  tempting  to 


3o6  THE  ALIENS. 

let  go,  and  she  directed  her  son  to  get  into  the  vehicle  and 
show  the  man  where  to  take  it.  Manly's  eyes  glistened. 
This  was  just  the  chance  to  get  Norah  alone,  and  see  what 
the  letter  meant. 

"  Tell  Norah  to  get  the  money  out  of  my  drawer  to 
pay  for  the  butter,"  Mrs.  Blythe  said  as  the  boy  climbed 
up  into  the  wagon  beside  the  driver.  Manly  noticed  the 
man  start  as  his  mother  spoke,  and  wondered  why  he 
looked  so  fixedly  at  her.  Manly  remarked  that  the  man 
was  not  a  farmerlike-looking  person  ;  that  he  was  much 
better  dressed  than  the  farmers  who  came  to  town,  and 
that,  unlike  most  of  them,  he  had  no  beard.  When  they 
had  driven  a  little  way,  the  man  turned  to  the  boy  and 
said  : 

"  Norah  is  your  sister  ? " 

"  No,  she's  our  cousin,"  Manly  said,  vaguely  conscious 
of  misleading  the  pensive  stranger,  but  not  liking  to  admit 
that  there  was  no  tie  between  such  close  friends. 

"Ah!" 

The  wagon  was  driven  into  the  stable  and  the  butter 
lifted  out,  Manly  meanwhile  flying  into  the  house  to  give 
Norah  the  precious  letter.  She  was  alone  in  the  tap-room, 
arranging  the  curtains.  Manly  delivered  the  letter  first, 
and  then  his  mother's  message.  She  opened  the  envelope, 
read  it  with  glistening  eyes  and  smiling  lips,  Manly  watch 
ing  her  eagerly.  As  she  finished,  a  man's  voice  at  the 
kitchen-door  said : 

"  I  say,  my  boy,  the  butter's  in  ;  who's  to  pay  me  ? " 

Norah  turned  white,  trembled,  and  reeled  against  the 
table,  the  note  falling  from  her  hand.  A  heavy  step 
sounded  on  the  hall  floor,  and,  with  a  low  cry,  she  fled 
through  the  front  door  to  the  stairway,  and  never  stopped 
until  she  was  in  her  room  and  the  door  locked.  Manly, 
amazed  and  terrified,  followed,  and  begged  to  be  let  in. 


BETWEEN  TWO  LOVES.  307 

She  opened  the  door,  and  the  child  burst  into  a  passion  of 
sobs  at  her  white  face  and  trembling  limbs. 

"Ah!  Manly,  Manly,  don't  let  that  man  see  me! 
Don't  let  him  know  I  am  here  !  O  my  God !  my  God ! 
what  shall  I  do  ? " 

"  Why,  Norah,  it's  only  the  farmer  with  the  butter. 
Mother  sent  him  up  for  you  to  pay  him." 

She  gave  the  boy  the  key  of  the  money-drawer  and 
bade  him  find  out  the  price  or  wait  for  his  mother  to  pay. 
Byron,  meanwhile — for  it  was  he  who  had  entered  the  tap 
room — heard  Manly's  step  on  the  stairs,  and  thought,  quite 
naturally,  that  he  was  going  to  tell  the  person  charged 
with  the  business  to  get  the  money.  As  he  sank  into  a 
chair  his  eye  spied  the  open  note  lying  on  the  floor.  Glanc 
ing  a  second  time,  he  saw  the  name  "  Norah."  There  was 
no  sound  in  the  lower  part  of  the  house.  He  picked  the 
paper  up  and  read  : 

"  MY  DARLING  NORAH  :  You  are  not  the  sweet  girl 
you  were  at  Marbury,  or  you  would  never  treat  me  so 
coldly.  What  have  I  done  that  you  can  no  longer  see 
me  ?  Has  some  one  else  won  your  love  ?  Unless  you 
come  to  me  this  evening  at  the  boat-house,  I  shall  believe 
this,  and  I  shall  always  be  your  heart-broken 

"  DARCY." 

Byron  thrust  the  note  into  his  wallet  as  Manly's  noisy 
step  was  heard  upon  the  stair.  He  took  the  money  the 
boy  handed  him  and  drove  away.  When  he  was  gone, 
Norah,  hurrying  down,  found  only  the  envelope  of  Darcy's 
note,  which  she  thrust  into  her  bosom  ;  too  deeply  agi 
tated  to  miss  the  inclosure,  she  returned  to  her  household 
work.  Poor  Norah  was  cruelly  perplexed.  It  was  fear  of 
herself  and  fear  for  Darcy  that  disturbed  her.  Byron  had 


3o8  THE  ALIENS. 

breathed  his  suspicion  to  her  that  it  was  Darcy's  love  that 
filled  her  heart.  He  had  sworn  an  awful  oath  that  the 
young  man  should  feel  his  vengeance  if  he  trifled  with  her, 
and  she  felt  that  Byron  was  capable  of  all  that  he  threat 
ened.  The  voice  in  which  he  had  told  Amelia  that  he 
would  cut  her  throat  sounded  in  poor  Norah's  ears  when 
ever  she  recalled  his  fierce  protest  of  his  wicked  love  for 
her. 

She  trembled  at  every  strange  step  she  heard  on  the 
veranda,  and  couldn't  get  rid  of  the  paralyzing  fear  that 
Byron  knew  her  whereabouts  and  that  his  eye  was  watch 
ing  her.  When  Marcus  came  in  the  evening  she  was  si 
lent  and  distressed,  starting  at  every  sound.  He  was 
reading  "  Ivanhoe  "  to  her,  and  she  confusedly  thought  of 
Byron  whenever  the  wicked  Templar  came  on  the  scene 
to  distress  Rebecca.  Darcy  had  given  her  the  book  to 
read  long  before,  and  it  was  Rebecca's  melancholy  fate 
that  had  given  her  a  dismal  and  abiding  premonition  that 
it  prefigured  what  her  own  fate  might  be.  For  wasn't 
Darcy  a  knight  more  splendid  than  Ivanhoe,  and  wasn't 
she  the  sad  daughter  of  a  ruined  family,  more  alien  to  his 
proud  kin  than  the  hapless  Hebrew  maid  ?  Yes,  his  love 
for  her  could  only  drag  Darcy  down,  and  she  would  wear 
her  poor  heart  out  rather  than  let  woe  come  to  that  god 
like  being. 

Marcus  meanwhile  had  been  startled  anew  by  the  artist. 
That  dashing  youth  came  often  of  an  evening  and  made 
merry  in  the  homely  group,  and  Norah  welcomed  him 
with  a  glad  smile  that  tortured  the  elderly  lover.  Darwin 
had  established  himself  on  the  most  friendly  footing  in 
the  house,  and  was,  to  Dunn's  dismay,  called  "  Mr.  Fred  " 
by  Manly  and  his  mother.  Norah  prattled  as  artlessly 
and  innocently  with  the  gay  young  fellow  as  if  he  had  been 
a  member  of  the  family,  and  the  unhappy  Marcus  saw  that 


BETWEEN   TWO  LOVES. 


309 


his  younger  rival  was  winning  an  intimacy  that  Norah 
seemed  tacitly  to  deny  him,  her  old  friend.  So  that  even 
ing,  when  the  chance  came,  and  he  was  alone  with  the 
maiden,  he  said  : 

"I'm  going  to  row  on  the  river  to-morrow;  won't  you 
come  with  me  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes,"  she  said,  simply;  "  Manly  is  very  fond  of 
the  boats,  and  he  will  be  very  glad  of  the  chance." 

He  had  not  bargained  on  Manly's  being  of  the  party, 
but  she  said  it  so  guilelessly  that  he  could  not  suspect  that 
she  had  any  motive.  Nor  had  she.  Manly's  going 
seemed  as  natural  to  her  as  her  own,  and  she  spoke  of  it 
only  because  the  thought  of  his  pleasure  was  the  first  that 
came  into  her  head.  As  he  walked  to  his  room  Marcus  de 
vised  with  himself  measures  to  get  rid  of  the  small  boy, 
making  no  doubt  but  he  could  bring  that  to  pass. 

Sitting  at  her  window,  Norah  watched  the  moon  as  she 
had  often  sat  watching  it  at  Marbury.  Her  heart  was 
sore  and  heavy.  She  was  giving  Darcy  pain.  She  could 
never  explain  to  him  that  it  was  his  good  she  had  at  heart 
in  denying  his  prayer;  that,  as  they  could  never  mate,  it 
would  be  better  they  should  never  meet.  Ah,  there  was 
the  thought  that  burned — that  embittered — the  blessed 
victory  over  self.  Conscience,  that  pleaded  with  a  still, 
small  voice  to  Darcy,  stood  with  rod  and  branding-iron  in 
the  mind  of  Norah.  The  spasmodic  resolution,  that  gave 
Darcy  such  complacent  satisfaction,  brought  sharp  pain 
and  the  vista  of  unsatisfied  yearning  to  Norah.  It  was  a 
conquest  of  the  demon  with  Darcy,  it  was  the  thorns  and 
the  cross  to  Norah. 


310  THE  ALIENS. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

BRISEIS. 

THE  little  Manly,  very  exuberant  and  impatient,  meet 
ing  Darcy  the  next  morning,  confided  to  that  mercurial 
lover  the  great  event  of  the  afternoon.  How  Norah  and 
Marcus  were  to  row  on  the  river  as  far  as  Verulam  Pond 
to  gather  lilies ;  how  they  were  to  picnic  in  the  grove,  and 
how  they  were  to  take  him,  Manly  !  Darcy  heard  the 
tale  with  outward  composure  and  inward  raging.  Marcus, 
as  a  kinsman  of  the  Warchesters,  kept  a  small  boat  in  the 
water-pavilion,  but  he  rarely  used  it.  When,  in  the  early 
afternoon,  the  three  set  out,  Darcy,  hidden  among  the 
laurel  bushes,  watched  Norah  and  her  elderly  adorer.  He 
chafed  angrily  at  her  oblivious  gayety.  She  looked  wist 
fully  at  the  curtained  window  of  the  jutting  alcove  where 
he  had  welcomed  her,  but  did  not  enter  the  place. 

Marcus  was  not  outwardly  perturbed,  but  he  was 
strangely  reticent  and  capricious  in  using  the  oars. 
Norah  laughed  immoderately  at  these  landsmen  tricks, 
sitting  at  the  tiller  as  the  skiff  wobbled  among  the  cat-tails 
on  leaving  the  shore. 

It  was  a  sultry  afternoon  in  early  September  ;  the  faint 
glow  of  autumn  was  just  distinguishable  among  the  maples 
of  the  low  hills.  Manly  usurped  most  of  the  noisy  pleas 
ure  of  the  jaunt.  Marcus  found  no  pretext  for  disposing 
of  the  urchin,  though  he  would  have  been  grateful  to  the 
boy  had  he  gone  turtle-hunting,  as  he  had  hinted  his  pur 
pose  to  do.  At  sundown  they  spread  a  cloth  on  the  moss, 
and  shared  the  edibles  provided  for  the  sylvan  supper. 
Manly  became  more  adventurous,  but  Norah  kept  him 
near  her.  They  returned  to  the  boat  in  the  soft,  trans- 


BRISEIS.  3!  I 

parent  twilight,  and  while  the  western  sky  was  still  aglow 
reached  the  pavilion. 

Manly  insisted  on  a  furlough  to  gather  cat-tails,  and 
he  was  allowed  to  remain  in  the  boat,  while  Norah  and 
Marcus  sat  on  the  veranda  watching  him  as  he  cut  the 
slender  stems.  They  sat  some  time  in  pondering  silence. 
The  stars  came  out,  and  the  water  plashed  tranquilly  be 
low  them.  Manly  was  at  a  safe  distance,  and  Marcus, 
with  a  deep  tremor  in  his  voice,  said  : 

"  Norah,  do  you  know  why  I  asked  you  to  come  out 
on  the  river  with  me  to-night  ?  " 

She  looked  at  his  grave  face  in  a  startled  doubt,  as  if 
her  mind  had  been  far  away,  sighing  softly  at  her  thought, 
rather  than  the  suggestion  of  his  words,  then  answered 
falteringly,  "  Oh  yes,  Mr.  Marcus,  because  you  were  very 
kind,  and  knew  it  would  give  Manly  and  me  pleasure." 

"  Yes,  Norah,  it  was  partly  that,  but  it  was  a  selfish 
kindness,  for  I  wanted  the  chance  for  a  greater  pleasure 
than  I  can  give  you  ;  Norah,  my  child,  I  asked  you  here 
to  tell  you  I  love  you,  that  I  want  you  to  be  my  wife. 
You  are  so  innocent,  so  unlike  the  girls  of  the  world,  that 
you  have  had  no  suspicion  of  the  feelings  that  have  been 
growing  in  me  since  the  happy  day  I  saw  you  in  your 
present  home.  Any  other  girl  but  you  would  have  known 
the  meaning  of  my — my  devotion  to  you  these  many 
months  !  I  haven't  known  whether  to  be  happy  or  sad 
over  your  unsuspecting  behavior.  Sometimes  I  have 
thought  you  knew  and  shared  my  feelings,  but  I  fear  that 
what  I  am  saying  is  a  surprise  to  you — is  it  ?  " 

"  O  Mr.  Dunn,  it  is  a  very  great  surprise  !  " 

"  But,  Norah,  dear  Norah,  it  is  not,  I  hope,  a  very  disa 
greeable  surprise,  is  it  ?  "  He  took  her  unresisting  hand 
eagerly.  "  I  am  not  a  young  fellow  ;  I  am  not,  I  know, 
as  attractive  to  a  girl  like  you  as  many  of  the  young  men 
14 


312  THE  ALIENS. 

you  see,  but  I  know  I  can  make  you  very  happy  if  you 
will  give  me  the  right  to  care  for  your  happiness." 

She  sat  painfully  still,  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  rippling 
waves,  that  now  began  to  take  the  tinge  of  the  broad  line 
of  yellow  light  falling,  as  it  seemed,  from  the  vast  fringe  of 
forest  crowning  the  Holly  Hills,  where  they  touched  the 
horizon.  She  trembled  a  little  as  he  slipped  his  arm 
timidly,  gently,  about  her  waist,  and  whispered  : 

"  One  word,  my  darling  Norah,  just  one  word." 

"  O  Mr.  Dunn,  the  curse  is  on  me ;  the  curse  is  on  me  ; 
I'm  no  wife  for  you  ;  God  forgive  me  !  The  curse  is  on 
me,  my  love  is  lost,  my  love  is  a  curse  ! " 

Her  voice  grew  quite  hoarse,  and  she  trembled  vio 
lently. 

"  O  Mr.  Dunn,  misfortune  comes  to  all  that  have  to  do 
with  me  ;  the  sins  of  my  kin  are  on  my  head.  I  can  be 
no  man's  wife.  My  love  is  a  curse  !  My  heart  is  lost  to 
me!" 

"  Trust  me,  Norah,  I  will  find  it.  I  know  something 
of  the  burden  of  your  sad  life.  I,  Norah,  knew  your 
mother,  and,  my  darling,  it  was  my  precious  privilege  to 
be  a  friend  to  her  when  she  needed  a  friend ;  but,"  he 
added  hastily,  "  I  do  not  say  this  to  win  your  consent. 
You  must  give  me  freely  what  I  ask,  or  it  would  be  more 
miserable  for  both  of  us.  I  want  your  love ;  surely, 
Norah,  you  could  give  me  that !  " 

"  It's  my  mother's  curse  that's  on  me — don't  touch  me 
— don't  look  at  me  !  I'm  not  fit  to  be  your  love  !  " 

"  Hush,  Norah,  such  talk  is  wild  and  wicked.  A  spot 
less  girl  like  you  should  not  cherish  the  superstitions  of 
your  race  ;  trust  me,  love  me,  believe  me  and  be  my 
wife  !  " 

"  I  can  not  love  you ;  how  could  I  be  your  wife  ? " 

Marcus  arose  to  his  feet,  and  in  the  moonlight  his  face 


BRISEIS. 


313 


was  solemn  and  questioning,  drawn  into  lines  of  patient 
pain. 

"  Do  you  love  some  one  else,  Norah  ?  " 

"jEvery  drop  of  blood  in  my  veins,  every  breath  that  I 
draw,  every  thought  that  comes  into  my  head — God  for 
give  me.  I  think  my  soul  is  another's  !  " 

"  Young  Darwin,  Norah  ?  " 

She  looked  at  him  helplessly,  in  a  sort  of  dazed  un 
certainty,  shook  her  head,  and,  breathing  heavily,  said 
faintly : 

"  No,  no  ;  not  him." 

At  this  moment  a  crash  was  heard  in  the  reeds,  and  a 
sharp,  frightened  cry  from  Manly. 

"  Ah  !  Mr.  Dunn,  the  child  has  fallen  into  the  water  ! 
He'll  be  drowned,  and  the  guilt  will  be  on  my  head." 

Arising  swiftly,  Norah  started  as  if  to  leap  into  the 
water.  Marcus  pushed  her  gently  back  to  the  bench,  say 
ing  quietly  : 

"  Have  no  fear.  The  water  is  not  deep,  and  Manly's 
a  good  swimmer.  Beyond  a  drenching,  he'll  come  to  no 
harm." 

He  lifted  one  of  the  light  boats,  slipped  it  down  the 
grooved  way  into  the  water,  and  shot  among  the  tall  cat 
tails  that  obscured  the  surface  of  the  stream.  The  cur 
rent  ran  strong,  and  Manly's  shouts  grew  fainter  and 
fainter.  Norah  stood  at  the  rail,  peering  in  eager  appre 
hension  into  the  silvery  gloom.  She  started  with  a  scream 
and  palsied  limbs  as  a  hand  suddenly  clutched  her  arm, 
and  the  voice  of  Byron,  husky  and  decisive,  said,  in  min 
gled  appeal  and  menace  : 

"  Norah,  you  must  come  with  me.  Your  home  is  under 
my  roof ;  you  were  left  to  me  with  Marbury  ;  you  are 
mine.  It  was  my  father's  will,  and  it  is  mine." 

She  sank  on  her  knees — cowering,  panic-stricken  for  a 


314  THE  ALIENS. 

moment,  dumb — then  raised  her  hands  supplicatingly,  her 
lips  refusing  to  articulate  the  frantic  prayer  on  her 
tongue. 

"  You  must  come  with  me,  my  girl — my  love,  my  own 
love  !  Did  you  think  that  you  could  hide  from  me  ?  By 
law  you  are  mine.  You  are  the  daughter  of  my  house  ; 
my  father's  will  says  it,  and  the  law  will  uphold  me  in  pos 
sessing  you." 

"  Ah !  no,  no.  Denny  !  Darcy  !  Oh,  what  shall  I  do, 
what  shall  I  do  ?  Father  of  the  fatherless,  help  me,  save 
me!" 

"  Do  ?  Come  at  once,  before  that  old  fool  gets  back ! 
The  wagon  is  in  the  grove,  a  step  from  here.  Come  at 
once,  for  come  you  must,  if  I  have  to  take  you  by  force. 
If  you  resist,  I  will  take  you  all  the  same." 

"  Oh,  no,  no ! "  She  tried  to  raise  her  voice,  but  it 
broke,  thin  and  gasping,  as  she  called  in  agony,  "  Mr. 
Dunn !  Mr.  Dunn  !  save  me  !  " 

Byron  bent  down.  With  a  giant  wrench  he  tore  her 
hands  from  the  railing,  to  which  she  clung  with  piteous 
helplessness,  and  lifted  her  in  the  air.  Then  she  found 
voice,  and  shrieked  hoarsely.  He  put  his  hand  over  her 
mouth ;  then,  supporting  her  against  the  rail,  said  deter 
minedly  : 

"  All  your  calls  will  do  no  good,  even  if  Dunn  were 
here.  I  am  your  guardian,  and  the  law  gives  me  a  right 
to  hold  you  until  you  are  a  wife.  Furthermore,  I  am  a 
magistrate,  and  I  have  a  warrant  for  your  arrest  for  theft." 

That  dreadful  sentence  did  swift  work.  Had  it  been 
a  bullet,  the  effect  could  not  have  been  more  decisive. 
Further  threats  were  not  needed.  Norah  fell  limp  and 
helpless  into  his  arms.  But,  as  he  bent  forward  to  support 
her,  a  strong  hand  seized  him  by  the  shoulder  and  flung 
him  against  the  railings,  and  a  passionate  voice  said  : 


ERISEIS. 


315 


"  You  miserable  coward,  how  dare  you  impose  on  an 
innocent  girl  like  that !  How  dare  you  lay  your  vile  hands 
upon  her  !  You  ought  to  have  every  bone  in  your  villain 
ous  body  broken  !  "  and,  stooping  over  Norah,  Darcy  lifted 
her  tenderly. 

Byron,  stunned  by  the  shock,  did  not  at  first  recognize 
Darcy,  but  in  a  moment  he  recalled  the  shapely  figure,  the 
imperious  gesture,  the  high-bred  face,  in  the  moonlight. 
As  Darcy  bent  to  raise  Norah,  Byron  made  a  savage  spring, 
and,  catching  the  slender,  graceful  stripling  by  the  body, 
lifted  the  light,  struggling  form  clear  from  the  floor.  He 
carried  him  to  the  edge  of  the  balcony,  and,  with  a  mighty 
wrench,  got  the  body  on  a  line  with  the  balustrade.  But 
Darcy,  regaining  his  wits,  caught  the  rail,  and  held  it  so 
pertinaciously  that  Byron  was  forced  to  release  his  hold. 
Then,  with  his  clenched  fist,  he  dealt  the  young  man  a 
deadly  blow  square  in  the  face.  Darcy  reeled  like  one 
shot.  He  was,  in  fact,  lifted  from  his  feet ;  as  he  fell,  his 
head  struck  the  sharp  edge  of  the  open  door,  where  he  lay 
supine  and  helpless.  Byron,  however,  had  another  an 
tagonist  at  the  same  instant.  Marcus  had  fished  Manly 
out  of  the  water,  and  heard  the  confused  noise  of  struggle. 
As  Darcy  fell,  he  confronted  Byron  on  the  porch. 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?     Who  are  you  ?  " 

"I  am  that  girl's  guardian,  and  I'm  going  to  take  her 
home." 

Dunn's  eyes  fell  upon  Norah  lying  upon  the  floor.  He 
bent  over  her  in  cruel  despair,  and  lifted  her  up. 

"Open  the  door,  Manly,"  he  said  to  the  child,  pointing 
to  the  pavilion. 

He  carried  Norah  in,  and  poured  some  spirits  into  her 
mouth  through  the  compressed  lips.  She  opened  her  eyes 
dreamily.  A  candle  had  been  lighted,  and  she  looked 
about  her  in  perplexity. 


3l6  THE  ALIENS. 

"  I  reckon  she's  ready  to  go  now,"  Byron  said,  and 
pushed  nearer  to  Norah. 

"  My  man,  I  don't  know  who  you  are,  but,  I  assure 
you,  Norah  does  not  go  with  you  without  her  free  consent. 
Norah,  do  you  wish  to  go  with  this  person  ?  " 

She  shuddered,  "  Oh,  no.  No !  Never,  never !  O 
Mr.  Marcus  !  don't  let  him  take  me.  He — he — "  She 
covered  her  face,  and  broke  into  convulsive  sobs. 

"  Have  no  fear,  Norah  ;  you  shall  not  be  molested 
further.  Sir,  you  must  withdraw  from  here ;  the  poor  girl 
needs  repose.  This  is  private  property  ;  it  is  the  War- 
chester  estate.  You  are  trespassing,  and  liable  to  arrest." 

Before  Byron  could  answer,  Manly,  who  had  been  on 
the  outside,  tugged  at  Marcus's  coat,  and  whispered  in  a 
frightened  tone  : 

"  Mr.  Darcy  is  out  there,  and  I  think  he's  dead  !  " 

Marcus  darted  out.  Darcy  was  lying  where  Byron  had 
flung  him.  In  an  instant  he  was  lifted  up  and  carried  into 
the  light.  His  head  was  bleeding  profusely,  and  blood 
covered  his  face.  The  movement  aroused  Norah.  Rec 
ognizing  the  form,  she  arose  with  a  prolonged,  gasping, 
heart-rending  cry. 

"  Didn't  I  tell  you  the  curse  was  on  me  ? "  she  cried 
hysterically.  "  It  has  brought  him  to  his  death  !  It  has 
murdered  him  !  Oh,  my  love,  my  love !  let  me  die  with 
you  !  " 

She  flung  herself  on  the  limp  body,  and  Darcy,  con 
scious  of  her  presence,  lifted  his  arm  feebly  to  embrace 
her.  She  kissed  the  blood-stained  lips,  holding,  with  ten 
der  caressing,  the  head  in  her  arms.  Inexpressibly 
shocked,  Marcus  gently  pushed  her  aside,  bathed  the 
bloody  face,  Norah  hovering  by,  tearless  and  silent.  Pres 
ently,  when  Darcy  was  able  to  recline  on  the  chintz-cov 
ered  couch,  Marcus  turned  sternly  to  Byron  : 


BRISEIS. 


317 


"  Sir,  this  is  no  place  for  you.  This  house  is  the  prop 
erty  of  this  young  man  you  have  attempted  to  murder. 
You  must  be  gone  ;  the  law  will  deal  with  you  in  good 
time." 

"  I  will  be  gone,"  retorted  Byron  undauntedly,  "  when 
my  ward  is  ready  to  go  with  me.  Come,  Norah,  if  you 
won't  come  peaceably,  I  will  take  you  on  a  warrant." 

"  On  a  warrant  upon  what  grounds  ? "  cried  Marcus. 

"For  theft!" 

"  Theft !  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  and  Marcus  turned 
to  Byron  as  if  for  the  first  time  free  to  inform  himself  of 
the  sort  of  person  the  interloper  was — whether  malefactor 
or  madman. 

"  She  is  in  possession  of  jewels  which  she  can  give  no 
explanation  of,"  Byron  said,  in  confident  eagerness. 

"  I  can  give  an  explanation  of  them,"  and  Darcy  con 
fronted  Marcus.  "  I  gave  Norah  the  jewels  a  year  or  more 
ago,  when  my  family  visited  Dr.  Marbury." 

Marcus  started.  His  heart  sank.  Now  he  understood 
Norah's  reticence.  He  would  rather  have  had  her  admit 
the  theft,  for  it  would  have  been  less  misery  to  her  in  the 
end.  Byron  was  in  no  wise  surprised.  He  had  suspected 
from  the  first.  He  said  insolently  to  Marcus : 

"  I  suppose,  now  that  you  find  the  sort  of  person  she 
is,  you  will  have  no  objection  to  my  taking  her  home, 
where  her  folly  will  be  buried  in  silence." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  may  choose  to  mean  by  that, 
sir,  but  Norah  is  with  friends,  and  shall  remain  with  them 
until  due  process  of  law  pronounces  otherwise.  You  must 
leave  this  place.  It  is  private  property,  and,  if  you  are 
a  magistrate,  you  must  recognize  that  you  are  a  tres 
passer." 

"  Very  well,  sir.  I  will  go  ;  but  the  law  shall  compel 
what  you  refuse,"  and  Byron  stalked  out  of  the  room  with 


3i8  THE  ALIENS. 

an  appealing  glance  at  Norah,  who  never  saw  him  at  all, 
nor  was  hardly  conscious  of  his  presence,  since  her  fear 
had  fled  while  Darcy  lay  helpless  beside  her.  The  single 
candle  burned  dimly  in  the  pretty  room,  throwing  out  the 
artistic  bric-a-brac  in  grotesque  relief,  as  the  figures  of 
Marcus  and  Manly  moved  about,  succoring  the  victims  of 
Byron's  fierce  wrath. 

"  This  is  no  place  for  you,  Norah.  I  will  take  you 
home  and  return  to  Darcy.  He  will  need  care  during  the 
night,  and  I  will  give  it  to  him." 

She  looked  from  Darcy  to  Marcus  in  dumb,  tearless 
woe.  Her  glance  pleaded  to  be  allowed  to  stay,  but  Marcus 
firmly  lifted  her  up,  and,  with  a  sign  to  Darcy,  he  led  her 
from  the  room.  It  was  a  silent  walk  home ;  even  Manly, 
who  rather  enjoyed  his  dripping  garments,  trotted  along 
silently,  deeply  puzzled  by  the  uncanny  doings  of  the 
tryst. 

"  Little  boy,"  said  Marcus,  slipping  something  in  Man- 
ly's  hand,  "  it  will  be  a  great  trouble  to  Norah  if  anything 
that  you've  seen  or  heard  to-night  is  spoken  of  at  home. 
You  will  be  a  little  man,  and  not  speak  of  it  ? "  and,  with 
many  profuse  promises,  Manly,  proud  of  the  atmosphere 
of  mystery  into  which  he  had  been  introduced,  resolved 
that  bears  and  dragons  should  not  frighten  him  into  a  dis 
closure. 

"  Be  of  good  cheer,  Norah  ;  all  will  be  well.  I  know 
you  and  trust  you,  and  whatever  is  for  your  good  shall 
be  done." 

She  turned  toward  him  with  a  wild  light  in  her  eyes, 
seized  his  hand,  and  kissed  it  passionately,  sacredly.  He 
withdrew  it  trembling,  abashed,  and  hurried  away  to  the 
boat-house.  Darcy  still  remained  on  the  cot  where  they 
had  left  him.  He  blushed  guiltily  when  he  met  Dunn's 
grave  face,  but  let  the  elder  speak  first.  He  was  weak 


BRISEIS. 

still,  but  the  wound  in  his  head  was  no  longer  bleeding. 
Dunn  made  him  comfortable,  and  then  asked  : 

"Wouldn't  it  be  better  for  you  to  remain  here  than 
venture  home?  In  your  present  plight  you  would  only 
alarm  your  mother,  and  bring  about  questions  that  I  fancy 
it  would  embarrass  you  to  answer." 

"  Yes,  by  all  means,  I  shall  stay  here,  and  to-morrow 
all  signs  of  the  fracas  will  be  gone.  What  a  beast  it  was  !  " 

Marcus  for  a  moment  did  not  reply.  He  got  up  and 
walked  the  floor  in  deep  agitation.  Darcy  watched  him, 
dreading  the  inevitable  question  that  he  felt  sure  was  com 
ing.  At  length,  Marcus,  as  if  having  settled  something  in 
his  own  mind,  drew  a  chair  over  to  the  couch,  and  said, 
in  a  repressed  monotone,  as  if  hardly  daring  to  trust  him 
self: 

"  Darcy,  you  have  been  a  boy — a  child — to  me  so  long 
that  I  can  hardly  realize  that  you  are  a  man.  But  you  are 
a  man,  and  I  must  talk  to  you  as  man  to  man.  How  long 
have  you  known  Norah  ?  " 

"  Since  the  first  summer  we  spent  at  Malvern — two 
years  or  more." 

"That  was  before  you  were  engaged  to  Agnes  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  And  you  loved  Norah  from  the  first  ?  " 

"  I  loved  Norah  the  first  moment  I  saw  her.  I  let  my 
self  love  her  as  men  love  saints  all  that  summer.  After 
ward  I  fought  with  myself  and  saw  her  no  more  for  a  year. 
Since  then  I  have  only  seen  her  twice.  I  should  never 
have  seen  her  again  if  I  hadn't  heard  this  monstrous 
charge  against  her.  Knowing  that  it  was  my  fault,  I  have 
done  all  I  could  to  find  Norah,  and  let  her  know  that  I 
could  safely  for  her  and  myself  clear  her  from  the  charge. 
On  my  word  of  honor,  I  have  never  attempted  to  win  her 
love  otherwise.  I  asked  her  for  a  meeting  to  tell  her  of 


320 


THE  ALIENS. 


my  plight  to  Agnes.  She  has  avoided  me.  I  knew  she 
was  coming  here  to-night  with  you,  and  I  meant  to  take 
leave  of  her  in  your  presence." 

Marcus  kept  his  troubled  eyes  on  the  culprit.  When 
his  confession  ended,  a  glad  light  shone  in  them. 

"  Thank  God,  Darcy,  I  knew,  I  felt  that  the  boy  I  had 
caressed,  frank  and  honest,  could  never  have  been  guilty 
in  such  a  monstrous  thing  as  the  deluding  of  this  sweet 
child  !  That  you  were  imprudent,  I  can  see  ;  but  that 
you  have  been  guilty  of  willful  deceit  I  can  not  believe. 
I  love  the  child — in  fact,  no  one  that  comes  near  her  can 
escape  loving.  My  heart,  which  was  very  heavy,  is  almost 
light  now,  for  since  you  confess  your  wrong,  though  it 
may  wrench  the  child's  heart,  it  will  not  break  it.  Now 
that  things  are  as  they  are,  I  must  tell  her  that  you  are 
the  promised  husband  of  another,  and  strive  thereafter 
with  patience  and  devotion  to  win  her  to  a  new  love. 
You,  Darcy,  can  help  me  by  refusing  to  see  or  communi 
cate  with  her  in  any  way.  That,  my  poor  boy,  is  the  only 
amends  you  can  make  for  the  disaster  you  have  brought 
upon  a  life  that  has  never  known  much  peace  or  joy  !  " 

Darcy  had  covered  his  eyes  with  a  movement  of  im 
patience  ;  as  the  other  waited,  he  murmured  : 

"  I  will  do  as  you  say,  but,  O  Mark,  I  don't  want  her  to 
hate  me.  I  don't  want  her  to  be  humiliated  by  having 
this  from  any  other  lips  than  mine  !  I  will  tell  her  in  my 
way — on  my  word  of  honor — I  will  tell  her,  and  I  will 
quit  her  forever." 

Marcus  started  and  paced  the  floor.  The  dishearten 
ing  truth  flashed  upon  him  that  Darcy's  love  was  real  love ; 
that,  put  to  the  test,  he  could  not  quit  Norah  as  he  glibly 
promised.  There  was  a  tremor  in  the  young  man's  voice 
that  told  of  a  depth  of  attachment  that  he  himself  but 
dimly  understood.  Face  to  face  with  Norah,  and  on  the 


SRISEIS.  321 

verge  of  the  ordeal  of  separation,  a  nature  like  Darcy's 
was  capable  of  throwing  prudence  to  the  Fates,  capable  of 
daring  family  wrath  or  personal  dishonor. 

No,  it  would  never  do  !  Darcy  must  not  see  Norah 
until  a  stronger  head  and  an  unshakable  will  stood  be 
tween  the  lovers.  He  soothed  the  young  man  and  dropped 
the  subject,  bidding  him  sleep  to  gather  strength  for  the 
morrow.  Presently  the  little  room  was  quiet,  Darcy 
breathing  softly,  and  Marcus  sitting  by  the  window,  his 
mind  full  of  hope  that  in  the  end  all  would  be  well. 

But  Darcy  was  not  asleep.  A  curious  resolution  had 
been  brought  about  by  the  climax  of  the  evening.  He  re 
sented  with  peevish,  resentful  wrath,  the  interposition  of 
Marcus  in  the  drama  of  his  love.  How  dared  he,  a  chilly- 
blooded  man  of  middle  age,  presume  to  judge  the  sacred 
sentiment  of  the  heart  of  youth  ?  How  dared  a  passionless 
prig  like  this  grave  mentor  conclude  that  he,  Darcy,  was  not 
capable  of  the  magnaminity  of  standing  before  the  world 
with  Norah  ?  And  to  insult  him  by  the  suspicion  that  he 
had  not  been  scrupulously  heedful  of  Norah's  reputation  ! 
He,  who  had  fled  from  the  pleasant  haunts  of  Marbury 
lest  injustice  might  befall  Norah !  He,  who  had  remained 
in  the  dull  circles  of  Malvern  rather  than  add  to  Norah's 
miseries  !  He  who,  in  fine,  promised  his  heart  to  another, 
that  Norah  might  be  spared  doubt  or  compromising ! 
And  this  was  the  summing  up  of  all  his  sacrifice ! 

He  had  wronged  her  ?  he,  who  would  have  spilled  his 
blood  to  save  her  a  pang  !  Oh,  it  was  monstrous,  and 
she  was  to  hear  the  story  of  his  betrothal  from  this  love 
sick  old  heart  of  ice  !  Never ;  if  he  had  to  see  Norah 
before  the  whole  world,  he  would  himself  tell  her  his  strug 
gle,  point  to  his  torn  heart-strings,  show  her  his  remorse, 
part  from  her  with  the  benediction  of  a  forgiving  kiss. 

But  why  should  they  part  ?     Agnes  was  his  promised 


322  THE  ALIENS. 

wife  only  because  the  families  had  set  their  hearts  on  the 
match  !  Why  should  he  assent  to  be  a  mere  thing  of 
merchandise  ?  What  was  it  to  him  whether  the  Vane 
estates  the  Warchester's  acres  ever  joined  ? 

Faugh  !  all  such  Old  World  notions  and  caste  traditions 
were  disgusting  in  this  republican  country  !  He  would 
do  as  Lord  Poultney  had  done  :  he  would  defy  public 
opinion  ;  he  would  marry  the  girl  of  his  heart.  After  all, 
he  was  his  own  master,  and  it  was  his  own  future  that  was 
at  stake.  And  while  Marcus's  eye  followed  the  broad 
moonlit  path  across  the  water  to  where  it  was  lost  in  the 
dim  shadows  of  the  field  of  the  dead,  Darcy's  heart  buoyant 
with  the  delicious,  torturing  thought  of  love's  fulfillment, 
his  inner  eyes  saw  Norah  pillowed  on  his  own  bosom,  and 
the  felicity  of  true  love  for  the  reward  of  his  constancy. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE   CURSE   OF   THE   ALIEN. 

DARCY  kept  his  room  at  home  the  next  day,  and  his 
mother,  who  came  anxiously  to  discover  his  ailment,  saw 
with  alarm  the  signs  of  the  night's  encounter.  But  he  pro 
tested  that  it  was  nothing  serious — merely  the  result  of  a 
bruise  in  falling ;  he  was  simply  unwell,  but  needed  no 
physician.  Late  in  the  day  the  servant  came  up  to  say 
that  Denis  Boyne  implored  a  moment's  speech.  Darcy 
bade  him  come  up,  and  as  the  lad  entered  the  room  Dar 
cy's  heart  misgave  him,  for  Denny's  eyes  were  swollen, 
and  he  was  trembling  as  if  in  an  ague. 

"Heavens!  Denny,  what  is  it?  Norah — nothing  has 
happened  to  her  ? " 


THE  CURSE  OF   THE  ALIEN.  323 

"  Ah,  no.  It's  not  Norah !  It's  worse  than  that,  Mr. 
Darcy ;  I  am  disgraced  and  ruined." 

"  What  is  it,  my  lad  ?  take  heart."  Darcy  was  so  re 
lieved  by  the  assurance  that  Denny's  misery  was  not  on 
Norah's  account  that  he  was  prepared  to  hear  anything 
else  with  complacency. 

"  The  brother  that  I've  never  seen  since  I  was  a  child 
is  in  the  '  Black  Hawk'  jail."  Denny  stopped — his  sobs 
stifled  him.  He  could  utter  no  more.  Darcy  rose  from 
the  couch  and  put  his  hand  on  the  youth's  bowed  head. 

"  Well,  Denny,  if  he  is  in  prison,  we  must  get  him  out, 
that's  all." 

"  He'll  never  leave  prison.  Ah  !  my  God — my  God  ! 
He's  a  murderer." 

Darcy  recoiled.  "  What !  explain.  It  can't  be  possible. 
Tell  me  the  facts." 

Denny  then  related  with  choking  sobs  how,  the  day 
before,  the  town  had  been  startled  by  a  tragedy  at  Thebia, 
a  small  village  on  the  river  below  Warchester.  In  a  quar 
rel  over  some  petty  grievance,  a  young  fellow  had  shot  an 
overseer  of  the  transportation  line.  When  arrested,  he  had 
at  first  given  one  name,  but,  after  a  few  hours  in  his  cell, 
he  had  divulged  the  fact  that  his  name  was  Lawrence 
Boyne;  that  he  had  a  brother  teaching  in  the  city,  and 
that  he  desired  him  to  be  sent  for.  Denis  was  summoned 
from  the  class-room  and  this  dreadful  story  told  him.  He 
had  visited  the  wretched  criminal,  and  learned  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  tragedy.  The  murdered  man  had  taken 
a  malicious  delight  in  provoking  Larry,  who  was  none  too 
peaceable  at  best. 

The  two  had  known  each  other  in  Canada,  where 
Larry  had  gone  years  before  and  served  his  term  as  a 
silversmith.  The  murdered  man — Graham  by  name — had 
been  in  the  same  shop.  A  theft  was  discovered  one  day, 


324  THE  ALIENS. 

and  Graham  had  ingeniously  trained  the  circumstance  to 
bear  upon  Larry,  who  was  guiltless.  He  afterward  found 
that  Graham  had  himself  done  the  theft.  Larry  had 
vowed  revenge,  and,  on  meeting  Graham,  had  thrashed 
him  mercilessly.  Graham  had  in  the  presence  of  several 
people  threatened  to  "  maim  the  Paddy "  for  life.  The 
two,  after  years  of  separation,  were  brought  together  in 
the  transportation  office  at  Thebia,  where  Larry  held  a 
responsible  post  in  the  accountant's  department.  In  a 
drunken  frolic,  Graham  climbed  into  Larry's  sleeping-room 
window  in  the  dead  of  night,  and,  taking  him  for  a  robber, 
Larry  had  leaped  from  his  bed  and  struck  him  with  an 
iron  bar,  fracturing  his  skull.  Public  sympathy,  except 
in  Larry's  office,  was  with  the  victim,  who  was  a  native, 
and  Larry  only  an  "  Irish  immigrant."  Graham  had  never 
been  able  to  speak  after  the  blow,  and  Larry  had  promptly 
been  indicted  for  murder. 

"  If  these  facts  can  be  substantiated,  the  worst  that 
can  be  made  of  the  affair  is  manslaughter.  I  can't  say  to 
you  that  there  is  no  cause  for  grief — that  would  be  untrue. 
The  stigma  of  the  crime  will  attach  to  you  among  people 
of  narrow  prejudices.  But  all  that  I  can  do,  and  all  that 
my  family  can  do,  shall  be  done  to  lighten  the  penalty  of 
your  brother's  madness.  Go  at  once  to  my  cousin  Mar 
cus  Dunn.  He  is  one  of  the  foremost  lawyers  in  the 
city.  He  is  Norah's  friend."  Darcy  suddenly  recollected 
that  Denny  knew  nothing  of  her  whereabouts,  and  having 
explained  about  her,  and  the  motive  for  keeping  him  in 
the  dark,  continued : 

"  Mark  will  take  up  Larry's  case,  and  what  clear  brains 
and  a  kind  heart  can  do,  you  may  be  sure  he  will  do." 

He  wrote  to  his  cousin  and  hurried  Denny  away  ;  then 
sank  back  on  the  couch  with  a  low  cry  of  anguish.  Lar 
ry's  crime  had  in  an  instant  dashed  the  airy  towers,  the 


THE  CURSE  OF   THE  ALIEN.  325 

roseate  pinnacles  of  his  dreams.  His  mother,  perhaps, 
might  have  been  brought  to  consent  to  an  alliance  with 
obscurity,  but  even  the  happiness  of  her  first-born  would 
never  weigh  an  instant  when  criminal  notoriety  was  added 
to  low  birth. 

Great  was  Manly's  amazement  during  that  eventful 
day  to  see  a  tall  young  man  enter  the  Blue  Jay,  walk  past 
the  "  tap  "  straight  to  the  kitchen,  whither,  following  him 
in  wonder,  he  found  Norah  clasped  in  the  young  fellow's 
stout  arms,  and  the  two  weeping  and  smiling  together. 
Catching  sight  of  Manly's  startled  face,  Norah  cried  out 
eagerly : 

"  Manly,  dear,  this  is  brother  Denny,  and  you  must 
love  him  as  you  love  me." 

Manly  was  uncertain  as  to  that ;  he  couldn't  bring  his 
small  mind  to  receive  in  amity  a  stranger  who  seemed  to 
be  free  to  rumple  Norah's  soft  tresses,  and  kiss  her  as  no 
one  in  the  Blue  Jay  but  he,  Manly,  had  ever  been  per 
mitted  to  do.  It  was  asking  a  good  deal  to  concede  this 
to  a  stranger,  but  he  would  give  the  interloper  a  chance. 
However,  so  soon  as  Norah  had  whispered  in  his  ear  that 
it  was  Denny  who  had  conjured  all  her  fairy  stories,  and 
had  told  them  to  her,  Manly  made  up  his  mind  to  the 
sacrifice  unmurmuringly.  Adversity  should  have  some 
sweet  uses,  was  the  summing  up  of  his  thoughts,  though  he 
was  far  from  formulating  it  so  precisely. 

Denny  had  resolved  to  keep  the  story  of  Larry's  crime 
from  Norah.  There  was  no  likelihood  that  she  would 
ever  hear  of  it,  if  the  household  could  be  cautioned,  and 
that  Marcus  had  not  only  suggested  but  promised  to  charge 
himself  with.  So  Denny  assumed  a  gayety  he  was  far 
from  feeling,  even  in  the  gladness  and  relief  of  Norah's 
restoration,  as  he  called  it.  They  sat  for  hours  in  Norah's 
pretty  room,  the  green  hills  beyond  the  river  recalling 


326  THE  ALIENS. 

Marbury,  and  the  story  of  the  long  separation  was  told  on 
each  side. 

Norah  blushed  and  wept  over  Darcy's  goodness  to 
Denny,  but  said  nothing  to  reveal  any  other  sentiment 
than  gratitude.  And  so  Dilly  was  in  his  academy  ?  She 
must  go  at  once  and  see  her.  It  would  be  quite  like  old 
Marbury  days.  But  Denny  did  not  respond  to  this  sug 
gestion.  He  knew  that  Larry's  crime  would  drive  him 
from  the  school,  even  if  he  had  wished  to  remain.  But  he 
didn't.  He  had  already  arranged  the  terms  in  which  he 
was  to  give  up  the  place  he  had  held  with  such  pride. 

He  returned  to  the  school  late  in  the  afternoon,  and 
requested  an  interview  with  the  principal.  That  austere 
dame  had  made  a  trying  concession  to  her  conscience  in 
admitting  an  alien  of  the  Irish  race  into  the  sacred  pre 
cincts  of  her  academy.  But  he  came  supported  by  such 
potent  names  that  she  had  waived  her  scruples.  She  list 
ened  in  dismay  to  Denny's  brief  summary  of  the  situation, 
and  heard,  with  a  sigh  of  manifest  relief,  his  conclusion 
that  he  must  withdraw  at  once  from  the  school.  She  dis 
missed  him  with  frigid  dignity,  and  mentally  went  through 
a  spiritual  ablution  when  the  door  closed  behind  the 
quondam  instructor.  Denny's  most  agonizing  ordeal  was 
yet  before  him.  He  must  tell  Dilly,  before  she  heard  it 
from  strangers'  lips,  the  cause  of  his  leaving,  and  the  miser 
able  story  of  Larry's  misdeed. 

She  came  presently  down  the  pleasant,  shaded  walk, 
and,  espying  Denny,  left  her  companions  to  speak  with  him. 

"  Why  weren't  you  at  the  lessons  to-day,  Master  Pro 
fessor  ?  Everybody  wondered,  and  you  have  been  rated 
a  very  black  mark,  with  punishment  based  upon  the  good 
ness  of  your  excuses."  She  stopped  suddenly  as  she 
caught  his  eye.  "  O  Denny  !  forgive  me,  you  have  heard 
bad  news  !  Norah  ?  Something  has  happened  to  Norah  ? " 


THE  CURSE  OF   THE  ALIEN. 


327 


"  No.  On  the  contrary,  Norah  is  safe,  and  I  have  seen 
her.  Ah  !  Dilly,  it  is  much  worse  than  anything  you  can 
imagine.  It  is  the  loss  of  all  I  love,  the  flight  of  all  my 
ambitions." 

"  Ah  !  Denis,  don't  talk  in  that  way  ;  you  really  frighten 
me.  One  would  think  you  had  committed  a  crime." 

He  turned  deadly  pale.  "I  have  not  committed  a 
crime,  Dilly,  but  my  brother  has.  He  is  in  the  jail  yonder, 
for  striking  a  man  dead." 

"  Your  brother,  Denny  ?  "  she  faltered,  stopping  quite 
still,  and  supporting  herself  against  a  spreading  elm.  "  I 
didn't  know  you  had  a  brother." 

"  And  I  had  forgotten  it  almost,"  echoed  the  poor  fellow 
sadly.  Then  he  recounted  such  glimpses  of  his  youth 
as  he  remembered,  ending  with  the  circumstances  of  Lar 
ry's  crime.  They  had  reached  the  river-bank,  where  the 
thick  laurels  grew  in  sheltering  groups.  Dilly  faced  him 
when  he  ended,  and  said,  with  tears  gleaming  in  her  eyes  : 

"  O  Denis  !  must  you  always  be  a  victim  of  caste  and 
crime  and  misfortune  not  of  your  own  doing  ? " 

"  Yes,  Dilly.  I  have  the  alien's  curse  of  social  servi 
tude  upon  me.  I  can  not  evade  it.  I  am  resigned  to  it 
now.  What  matter  ?  The  kinsman  of  a  malefactor  need 
excite  no  pity.  If  I  were  reviled  simply  because  the  sea 
rolls  between  this  land  and  the  land  of  my  birth,  what  will 
be  my  fate  now,  pointed  out  as  a  felon's  brother  ? " 

"  Only  the  ignorant  will  do  that,  Denis.  Those  who 
know  you  will  love  you  all  the  same  " — she  colored,  and 
her  eyes  glistened.  "  I — I  shall,  at  least,"  and,  with  an 
adorable  blush,  she  took  his  hand  and  pressed  it  confid 
ingly.  Denny  looked  in  her  eyes  with  a  wild,  despairing 
glance,  tried  vainly  to  utter  something ;  then,  falling  on 
the  bench  beside  her,  with  her  two  willing  hands  in  his 
own,  he  broke  out : 


328  THE  ALIENS. 

"  It  can't  be  true  !  Do  you  know,  Dilly,  what  you  say  ? 
Even  when  the  future  was  a  world  of  equality  for  me,  I 
trembled  to  hint  my  love  for  you  ;  and  now — now,  that 
all  men  will  turn  their  back  on  me,  you  do  not ;  you  give 
me  courage — you,  O — O  Dilly !  If  the  unfortunate  have 
the  ear  of  Heaven,  as  the  legends  say,  may  they  hear  my 
blessings  invoked  on  you  and  yours.  You  are  not  angry 
at  my  love  !  You  are  not  ashamed  to  love  me  !  O  God  ! 
that  hears  us,  as  man  flies  from  us,  rain  blessings  on  this 
sweet  head,  joy  on  this  true  heart !  I  may  love  you  !  I 
may  love  you  !  " 

Dilly  was  smiling  sweetly.  "  I  think  it  is  only  right 
that  you  should  love  me  a  little,  since  I  have  loved  you  so 
long,  and  without  a  word  from  you  that  it  was  welcome." 

The  ineffable  archness  and  tender  modesty  of  this  lit 
tle  speech  restored  the  woeful  lover.  His  sudden  joy  dis 
placed  his  grief,  and  he  fairly  smiled  as  he  pressed  his  lips 
unchecked  to  the  brow  of  his  beloved.  Then  he  mono- 
logued  excitedly  about  the  angelic  qualities  his  adored 
had  exhibited.  In  short,  Denis  in  love  was  much  as  men 
have  been,  are,  and  ever  will  be  until  the  story  which  is 
never  threadbare  shall  become  a  myth  and  take  its  place 
in  the  necrology  of  the  gods.  Then  he  broke  into  start 
ling  outbursts  of  wonder  that  he,  of  all  the  unworthy  sons 
of  the  children  of  men,  should  have  won  this  amazing 
boon ;  and  he  looked  with  such  intensity  at  the  merry  eyes 
before  him  that  Dilly  broke  into  a  tantalizing  laugh — 
mocking  him  saucily  : 

"  Really,  Denny,  all  this  seems  as  unreal  as  the  fan 
tastic  stories  you  used  to  tell  me  as  we  walked  home  at 
Marbury.  When  I  think  of  you,  it  is  always  as  some  sort 
of  kinsman  to  the  will-o'-the-wisps,  banshees,  and  what 
not,  that  play  the  enchanting  parts  in  your  stories.  Who 
knows,  perhaps  if  I  had  really  believed  you  were  flesh  and 


THE  CURSE  OF   THE  ALIEN. 


329 


blood,  as  other  boys  were,  I  should  never  have  been  won 
by  your  sorrows  or  interested  in  your  tales." 

"  But,  Dilly  !  O  Dilly  !  I  do  love  you.  If  you  should 
turn  on  me  now,  I  won't  say  I  should  break  my  heart,  for 
I  should  have  none  to  break,  but  the  sky  would  be  without 
stars  at  night  and  sun  by  day,  the  waters  would  be  bitter 
ness  to  my  mouth,  and  all  that  makes  earth  a  refuge 
would  be  the  misery  of  a  bondage  to  me.  Ah,  Dilly,  I 
love  to  see  you  merry,  but  don't  deny  your  love  !  " 

"  What  a  silly  fellow  you  are,  Denny !  There  wasn't  a 
boy  at  Marbury  school  that  could  have  been  blind  so  long 
as  you  were.  Don't  you  know  that  with  your  breezy 
blarney  you  could  win  a  queen's  love  ?  You  don't  mean 
it  for  blarney,  I  know,"  she  said  repentingly,  as  Denny 
raised  a  reproachful  eye,  "but  don't  you  know,  to  sober 
people  like  us,  all  your  charming  conceits  about  fairies, 
elves,  flower-goblins,  and  water-sprites  are  like  the  legends 
of  Bible  people  ?  That  tale  you  told  me  about  the  sun 
beams  was  enough  to  win  a  girl's  heart.  That,  however, 
is  neither  here  nor  there.  Now,  listen  to  the  dark  side. 
My  worldly  father  can  not  be  brought  to  consent  to  our 
marriage — "  she  blushed  in  the  most  charming  manner — 
"  so  you  are  to  say  nothing  of  our  vows  until  I  give  you 
leave.  You  must  win  a  name  of  your  own,  and  then  I 
shall  find  it  easier  to  bring  father  to  see  you  as  I  see  you. 
Tom  likes  you  and  mother  likes  you,  but  father  has  an  Eng 
lishman's  blood  in  some  remote  degree,  and  he  hates  the 
name  of  an  Irishman.  But  he  won't  when  he  knows  what 
a  fine  heart  you  have,  how  loyal  you  are,  how  modest,  and 
how  brave — " 

"  There  won't  be  much  modesty  left,  I  fear,  if  you  go 
on  in  this  way.  I  feel  now  like  a  knight,  accoutered  in 
the  saddle." 

"But  it  is  in  the  saddle  the  knight  is  in  the  greatest 


330  THE  ALIENS. 

danger.  He  may  fall  on  his  head  if  his  arms  are  too 
heavy." 

"Not  if  his  heart  is  light  and  his  conscience  clear," 
whispered  the  sly  rogue,  and,  blushing  divinely,  she  assents 
with  kisses — and — and —  But  there — I  protest  this  love- 
making  adds  no  light  or  shade,  no  character  perspective 
to  the  story,  and  if  not,  why  risk  the  sharp  pen-thrusts  of 
the  critics  over  the  maunderings  of  this  pair  ?  For,  of 
course,  stories  are  written,  as  carpenters  make  boxes,  by 
rule  and  plane  !  No  wise  carpenter  leaves  the  twigs,  be 
they  ever  so  fragrant,  on  his  timbers,  nor  employs  the 
graceful  curve  of  the  branches  in  completing  his  polygon ! 
It  was  only  Portia's  caskets  that  bore  tales  on  the  sides 
as  well  as  within.  Still,  it  may  be  well  to  remember  that 
the  eminent  critic  Shylock  missed  the  moral  of  his  story 
by  refusing  to  take  in  the  details.  He  wanted  the  flesh, 
but  hadn't  patience  to  think  of  the  blood,  and  the  heart, 
and  all  the  small  accessories,  without  which  the  pound 
of  flesh  made  murder  ! 

So,  let  us  look  benignantly  on  Denny's  love-lapses ; 
they  are  not  so  moving  as  Darcy's,  for  in  those  warring 
impulses  we  read  between  the  good  and  evil  of  human 
purpose  ;  we  confront  the  mysterious  problem  of  right 
and  wrong,  a  problem  which,  like  truth,  has  many  aspects, 
and  is  resolved  helpfully  or  hurtfully  for  good  or  ill,  by 
the  qualities  that  are  brought  to  bear  on  the  relation. 
This  Darcy  was  beginning  dimly  to  see.  He  waited  fe 
verishly  for  Denny's  report  on  the  tragedy — but  there  was 
little  balm  for  his  eager  and  wounded  spirit.  Larry  would 
suffer  the  penalty  for  manslaughter,  and  Norah  would  be  a 
felon's  sister.  Now,  how  plain  and  pitiable  his  past  con 
duct  seemed  to  him  !  If  he  had  manfully  taken  Norah 
by  the  hand  and  led  her  to  his  mother,  before  this  shadow 
had  come  upon  her  life,  the  proud  woman  might  have  re- 


A    WOMAN'S  REASON.  331 

lented  for  the  sake  of  her  boy's  love.  Was  the  retaliation 
on  his  cowardice  the  outcome  of  the  slow  movement  of 
moral  retribution  ?  Was  leaden-heeled  justice  clinching 
its  iron  hand  for  another  blow  ? 

Darcy  cursed  himself  with  bitter  curses.  He  felt  that 
morally  he  was  a  blacker  sinner  than  the  malefactor  in  the 
jail  yonder,  for  he  had  struck  in  passion,  but  he,  Darcy, 
had  breasted  the  passion  that  was  holiest,  and  struck  in 
cowardly,  in  cold  blood  !  And  Norah — what  was  to  be 
come  of  her  ?  Would  the  fastidious  Marcus  now  share  his 
irreproachable  life,  his  stainless  name,  with  the  sister  of 
misfortune  and  crime ! 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

A  WOMAN'S  REASON. 

WARCHESTER,  whose  doings  are  now  chronicled  in  a 
dozen  journals,  daily  and  weekly,  by  a  trained  phalanx  of 
reporters,  had,  in  the  period  of  which  I  am  writing,  but 
one  rudely  printed  sheet,  appearing  once  a  week,  and 
singularly  enough  rarely  devoted  a  line  to  events  happen 
ing  in  or  near  the  city.  "  Social  news,"  the  life  of  the  mod 
ern  journal,  was,  in  those  days,  relegated  to  the  tea-parties 
and  tap-rooms.  The  editor  of  the  "  Columbian  "  was  a 
New  World  Walpole  who,  for  many  years,  filled  a  conspicu 
ous  place  in  the  public  eye.  The  great  mind  of  this  pub 
licist  was  given  exclusively  to  the  making  of  governors, 
presidents,  and  senators,  and  within  the  scope  of  his  vision 
such  trivial  incidents  as  the  life  and  movements  of  a  lo 
cality  never  halted  long  enough  to  take  form.  It  thus  hap 
pened  that  Larry's  crime  and  incarceration  were  not  known 


332  THE  ALIENS. 

outside  of  the  headquarters  of  the  gossipers,  and  as  the 
topic  was  not  of  a  sort  to  divert  the  tea-tables,  the  higher 
circles  of  the  town  barely  knew  that  some  vulgar  ruffian 
had  murdered  some  other  vulgar  ruffian,  and,  with  a  lan 
guid  regret  that  both  had  not  suffered  from  the  same 
blow,  refined  society  dismissed  the  event. 

Criminal  trials  were  held  in  the  distant  town  of  Can- 
derauga,  whither  the  culprit  was  removed  so  soon  as  the 
Grand  Jury  had  acted  on  the  indictment.  Denny  was  thus 
spared  the  ordeal  of  his  shame  being  the  town  topic,  and 
all  else  concerned  were  spared  the  knowledge  of  the  fact 
of  the  trial  itself.  The  Vanes,  with  Agnes,  had  been  in 
Bucephalo  a  fortnight  covering  the  preceding  events,  and 
Darcy  was  spared  perhaps  the  bitterest  pangs  of  his  self- 
wrought  wretchedness.  One  day  Mrs.  Blythe,  prattling 
in  the  dining-room  with  Norah,  was  surprised  by  a  visit 
from  the  Warchester  housekeeper,  who  came  with  madam's 
compliments  to  ask  if  Mrs.  Blythe  would  permit  Norah 
to  go  to  the  great  house  to  help  in  the  preparation  of  a 
banquet,  to  be  given  a  distinguished  party  of  foreigners, 
making  a  tour  of  the  country.  Mrs.  Warchester's  cook 
had  fallen  ill,  and  as  the  fame  of  the  Blue  Jay  had  spread 
since  Norah's  coming,  Madame  Warchester  made  bold  to 
ask  Mrs.  Blythe  if  she  would  spare  the  young  woman  to 
direct  the  Warchester  maids  in  the  preparation  of  such 
things  as  she  did  best.  Norah,  of  course,  was  willing, 
and  was  installed  in  the  great  house,  applying  her  cunning 
recipes  for  the  dainties  Mrs.  Warchester  coveted.  That 
lady  received  Norah  very  graciously,  recalled  her  sojourn 
under  the  Warchester  roof  at  the  time  of  her  accident, 
and  in  every  way  showed  herself  sensible  of  Norah's 
handiwork. 

Wide  verandas,  shaded  by  swinging  veils  of  Virginia 
creepers,  syringa,  and  clematis,  ran  quite  around  the 


A    WOMAN'S  REASON. 


333 


Warchester  house  to  the  kitchen  doors.  This  apartment 
was  like  an  ancient  baronial  hall,  in  amplitude  of  dimen 
sions — quite  unlike  the  kitchens  of  to-day,  even  in  fine 
mansions — nor  was  the  mistress  of  the  house,  no  matter 
how  pretentious  or  exclusive,  the  rare  visitor  in  this  odor 
ous  domain  she  is  to-day.  Our  grandmothers  were  proud 
of  their  aptitudes  in  the  kitchen,  and  the  ministers  at  the 
altar  of  the  palate  were  more  friends  than  domestics  in  the 
family  circle.  The  second  day  of  Norah's  lieutenancy  she 
left  the  kitchen  and  sat  down  with  some  trifling  work  near 
the  dining-room  window,  hidden  under  a  mass  of  fragrant 
creepers.  By  turning  her  head  she  could  see  far  into  the 
drawing-room.  Mrs.  Warchester  was  engaged  in  replac 
ing  some  tapestry  near  the  buffet,  when  Norah  heard  a 
domestic  saying : 

"  He  is  a  country-looking  person,  ma'am,  and  I  think 
may  be  for  his  pay." 

"  Ah,  very  well ;  show  him  in  here  ! " 

Norah  went  on  with  her  work,  until  the  tone  of  a  voice 
she  knew,  a  voice  that  made  her  heart  stop  beating, 
sounded  distinctly  : 

"  I  crave  your  pardon,  Madame  Warchester  ;  I  would 
not  have  disturbed  you,  but  duty  compels  me."  There  was 
a  rustle  of  skirts  and  the  noise  of  a  chair  placed  against  the 
wainscot.  The  voice  continued  :  "  I  called  at  the  bank  to 
see  the  Colonel,  but  they  told  me  that  he  was  in  New 
York  and  would  be  there  for  some  time.  I  don't  know, 
after  all,  but  it  is  best  that  you  should  hear  what  I  have  to 
tell  ;  as  a  mother  has  more  influence  over  a  son  than  a 
father.  Yes,  madam,"  Byron  continued — for  it  was  his 
voice  that  froze  Norah's  blood,  and  fixed  her  to  the  fatal 
spot  as  firmly  as  if  she  had  been  nailed  there  or  mesmer 
ized — "  your  son  has  deprived  our  family  of  a  daughter. 
I  don't  mean  that  he  has  carried  her  off,  but  he  has  been 


334  THE  ALIENS. 

the  cause  of  her  leaving  her  home  and  coming  to  this  city." 
Thence  Byron  continued,  ingeniously  bringing  into  the 
circumstantial  chain  all  that  he  knew  or  conjectured, 
winding  up  with  an  account  of  his  discovery  of  Norah  at 
the  boat-house  with  Darcy. 

"  Now,  of  course,  your  son  can't  mean  marriage  with 
our  poor  girl,  for  if  all  else  were  out  of  the  way,  I  under 
stand  he  is  engaged  to  be  married  to  Miss  Vane.  I  have 
come  to  you  to  ask  your  help  in  persuading  this  poor 
deluded  girl  to  return  to  her  home.  As  it  is,  your  son 
threatens  to  resist  by  law,  and  we  have  no  money  to  throw 
away  in  that  luxury." 

Before  Mrs.  Warchester  could  make  response,  while 
the  words  were  still  on  Byron's  lips,  Norah  heard  a  quick 
step  on  the  threshold,  then  an  imperious  voice :  "  You 
low-bred  scoundrel ;  what  are  you  doing  in  this  house  ? 
— I  beg  your  pardon,  mother,  but  no  other  treatment  is  due 
this  ruffian  :  he  tried  to  murder  me  in  the  dark. — Leave 
this  house  instantly,  or  the  servants  shall  fling  you  out ; 
go-" 

"  As  I  have  finished  the  business  that  brings  me  here, 
sir,  I  shall  go,"  and,  with  a  reverent  inclination  to  Mrs. 
Warchester,  Byron  retired,  keeping  a  wary  eye  on  Darcy, 
who,  however,  turned  his  back  on  his  foe. 

"  Ah,  Darcy — my  son — my  son  !  Can  this  horrible  story 
be  true  ?  Oh,  it  can't  be  !  No  son  of  mine  would  so  de 
grade  himself — say  it  isn't  true." 

"  Say  what  isn't  true  ?  What  has  that  skulking  sneak 
told  you  ?  If  it  be  anything  to  my  discredit,  it  is  a  lie ;  if 
it  be  that  I  love  an  honest,  sweet  girl — fit  to  be  a  king's 
wife — it  is  true.  The  scoundrel  told  you  the  story,  did 
he  ?  Well,  I  was  going  to  tell  you  myself.  I  can  tell  it 
now,  and  you  can  see  how  far  his  malice  goes.  I  met 
Norah  the  summer  we  were  at  Malvern.  Her  gentleness, 


A    WOMAN'S  REASON.  335 

modesty,  and  amazing  innocence  enchanted  me.  Before 
I  thought  of  myself  I  was  so  wrapt  up  in  her  that  I  could 
do  nothing,  go  nowhere,  that  her  image  didn't  come  be 
fore  me.  I  gave  up  the  summer  to  walks  and  talks  with 
her.  Then  I  recalled  your  ambitions  and  the  purpose 
you  had,  and,  as  you  have  been  the  best  mother  that  son 
ever  had,  I  fled  from  the  temptation  of  my  heart. 

"  I  never  saw  or  wrote  to  Norah  for  more  than  eighteen 
months.  I  should  never,  probably,  have  seen  her  had  the 
wife  of  this  wretch — young  Marbury — not  accused  Norah 
of  stealing  the  jewels  I  gave  her — trifling  things  for  a 
keepsake.  Her  brother  came  to  me  in  his  trouble,  and  I 
promised  to  aid  him  in  discovering  the  fugitive.  She  was 
living  in  the  city — in  the  next  square — at  the  Blue  Jay. 
She  is  there  now — and — ah,  mother,  she  is  an  angel ;  she 
is  in  every  sense  above  her  condition.  She  is  a  finer  lady 
than  any  we  see  in  Warchester.  She  is  well  read,  has 
fine  manners,  and — and — I  love  her." 

He  dropped  on  his  knees  and  buried  his  head  on  his 
mother's  lap.  She  stroked  his  hair  soothingly.  She  be 
gan  in  a  low,  agitated  voice,  that  gradually  deepened  into 
a  tremulous  pathos : 

"  My  son,  you  have  been  grievously  tempted,  and  you 
have  acted  like  a  Warchester — what  that  means  from  me, 
you  know.  But  now — you  have  lost  your  poise.  You 
love  this  poor  girl,  you  say — you  have  told  Agnes  that 
you  love  her —  Stay !  let  me  speak,  and  then  I  will 
listen.  You  have,  therefore,  done  a  great  wrong  to 
Agnes,  in  winning  her  love  under  false  pretenses.  Now, 
having  done  this  wrong,  is  it  better  to  make  it  worse  by 
throwing  your  life  away  on  a  low-born  ?  Ah,  I  make  no 
reflection,  mind  !  Is  it  like  a  Warchester  to  lie — to  steal  ? 
for  you  do  both  in  deserting  Agnes.  But,  of  that  part  of 
the  matter  I  will  say  no  more.  You  love  this  girl ;  you 
15 


336  THE  ALIENS. 

would  marry  her.  Why  ?  Because,  being  a  simple  child, 
who  had  never,  probably,  seen  a  young  man  woo  her,  she 
gave  her  heart  to  you.  It  came  lightly,  Darcy  !  it  will  go 
as  lightly.  Ah,  trust  me.  I  know.  But,  admitting  that 
you  have  a  moral  obligation  to  her,  you  are  dispensed  in 
the  eye  of  man  and  God,  for  within  a  week  her  brother 
is  to  stand  his  trial  for  murder.  Even  Agnes  herself,  if  in 
the  same  relationship,  wouldn't  expect  you  to  fulfill  a 
pledge  given.  No  law  demands  it,  social  or  religious. 

"  No,  Darcy,  you  must  do  your  duty,  as  the  Vanes  and 
the  Warchesters  have  always  done  their  duty.  You  must 
purge  yourself  of  this  low-born  passion.  It  would  be  the 
death  of  your  father;  it  would  be  to  me  an  inexpressible 
shame ;  I  should  never  lift  my  head  again  in  the  ranks  of  my 
equals.  No,  Darcy,  if  you  feel  that  you  owe  me  anything 
as  your  mother  and  best  friend,  now  is  the  time  to  prove 
it,  by  acting  at  once  in  such  a  manner  as  will  show  this 
unfortunate  girl  that  your  condescension  to  her  was  only 
such  as  a  superior  may  show  an  inferior." 

At  this  he  broke  into  something  like  an  imprecation. 
He  had  arisen,  and  was  facing  his  mother — now  perfectly 
mistress  of  the  field,  and  herself;  she  regarded  him 
steadily,  kindly,  the  overweening  pride  of  race  softened 
by  the  immeasurable  love  for  her  first-born. 

Darcy  had  expected  a  violent  outbreak,  indignant  re 
proaches,  and  scornful  references  to  his  low-born  love. 
He  had  not  counted  on  his  mother's  far-sighted  calmness, 
her  placative  and  direct  reasoning.  He  could  have  met 
denunciation,  and  the  charge  of  unfilial  conduct ;  he 
could  have  taken  with  savage  joy  the  burden  of  an  in- 
grate ;  but  against  this  impenetrable  array  of  reason  and 
fact  he  felt  disarmed,  helpless.  Knowing  his  mother's 
pride,  the  almost  mystic  reverence  for  gentility  in  the 
social  accidence  of  life,  her  haughty  intolerance  of  the  un- 


A    WOMAN'S  REASON.  337 

equal  in  the  world's  advantages,  he  had  prepared  himself 
for  anger,  scorn,  upbraiding,  command.  He  was  impotent 
before  an  argument  based  on  solidity  itself,  calm,  kindly, 
addressed  to  his  heart  as  well  as  his  head. 

He  had  anticipated  that  Agnes  would  be  used  as  the 
strong  rock  of  his  mother's  position,  and  he  had  prepared 
to  meet  the  indictment  of  infidelity,  treachery,  by  the  plain 
fact  that  his  pledge  to  the  girl  was  not  of  his  own  initiative 
and  impulse,  though  voluntarily  given ;  that  the  love-mak 
ing  had  been  perfunctory,  the  courtship  formal.  That 
there  was  no  reality  in  the  love  between  them.  That  Ag 
nes  would  release  him  with  a  light  and  untouched  heart. 
But  the  mother  had  astutely  evaded  this.  She  had  arrayed 
reasons  that,  in  spite  of  his  anger,  his  desperate  purpose, 
shook  him  in  the  whirl  of  doubt.  Denny  in  his  place,  we 
may  be  sure,  would  have  found  wits  and  words  to  expose 
the  sophistry  of  the  mother's  argument.  But  Darcy  was 
not  a  free  agent  in  the  combat.  He  had  given  hostages 
to  cowardice — to  the  enemy  of  his  hope.  He  was  con 
scious  of  ulterior  compacts,  of  moral  infirmities  in  the  in 
tegrity  of  his  desires,  that  left  him  morally  crippled  before 
the  worldly  craft  of  his  parent. 

We  fashion  our  own  shackles.  We  sin  and  we  suffer  in 
this  world,  but  we  suffer  often  almost  as  much  when  we 
sin  least.  The  forces  that  make  us  strong  are  the  instru 
ments  of  our  own  self-torture.  Our  sighs  and  sorrows  are 
as  often  for  the  sin  undone  as  the  sin  committed.  It  is  a 
mere  whim  that  turns  a  paradox  into  an  axiom  ;  a  mere 
point  of  view  that  transforms  wrong  into  right,  selfishness 
into  magnanimity.  The  cast  from  the  dead  face  of  vice 
is  as  comely  as  the  lines  left  by  virtue  in  the  plastic  mold. 
Caprice  rules  with  as  sure  a  hand  as  constancy,  for  it  has 
new  life  for  its  forces,  while  constancy  wields  but  one  set 
of  faculties.  However,  these  formulas  were  only  dim  and 


338  THE  ALIENS. 

vague  to  Darcy.  He  lived  before  the  cult  of  sweetness 
and  light  had  become  a  craft  in  the  hands  of  the  sophisti 
cated,  and  he  confronted  his  dilemma  as  inadequate  in 
arms  as  the  red  men  who  combated  Cortez  or  Pizarro. 
He  found  voice  to  say,  desperately : 

"And  you  think,  mother,  that  I  am  nothing  to — to 
Norah  ?  That  I  have  done  no  wrong  in  encourag 
ing  her  love,  that  I  shall  do  no  wrong  in  denying  her 
now  ? " 

l(  How  absurd  you  are,  Darcy  !  She  must  be  sensible 
enough  to  know  that  the  gallantries  of  a  high-born  young 
man  like  you  have  no  meaning.  She  is  not  an  adventuress, 
nor  an  evil-minded  young  person.  I  think  she  would  be 
the  first  to  tell  you  that  she  was  mad  or  criminal  if  she 
counted  on  the  wreck  of  your  life  to  satisfy  her  vanity. 
Agnes  will  be  back  to-morrow ;  pass  your  time  with  her. 
In  her  wit  and  gayety  you  will  soon  forget  the  silly  charms 
of  this  wild-wood  Phyllis,  and  by-and-by  the  army  will 
give  your  mind  new  pleasures  to  occupy  it." 

She  arose  and  drew  the  handsome  head  to  her  bosom, 
kissed  the  averted  cheeks,  and  passed  from  the  room.  Left 
alone,  Darcy  walked  the  floor  in  agitation.  He  couldn't 
even  think.  The  place  grew  stifling ;  he  passed  out  of  the 
window  to  the  veranda,  and  paced  backward  and  forward 
in  the  mellow  sunlight.  A  noisy  cat-bird,  chattering  in 
the  vines  of  the  farther  window,  distracted  him,  and  he 
walked  pensively  toward  it.  He  started  in  anguish.  There, 
lying  prone  on  the  leaf-strewn  floor,  Norah  was  before  him, 
pulseless  and  still.  Her  face  was  down,  and  her  right  arm 
was  doubled  under  her.  She  was  quite  cold  when  he 
lifted  her  head.  He  pressed  her  wildly  to  his  bosom,  im 
ploring  her  to  speak,  to  open  her  eyes.  He  shouted  for 
aid.  In  a  moment  his  mother  came  hurriedly  through  the 
dining-room.  She  realized  the  situation  at  a  glance. 


A    WOMAN'S  REASON. 


339 


"  Carry  her  to  my  room,"  she  said  gently.  "  She  has 
fainted." 

So  soon  as  the  girl  had  been  placed  on  the  couch,  the 
mother  said  : 

"  Go  and  send  Reed  to  me.  And  Darcy,  of  course, 
it  won't  do  for  you  to  be  in  the  room  when  the  girl  recov 
ers,  and  the  servants  are  here." 

Darcy,  hardly  hearing  this  admonition,  flew  to  the 
housekeeper's  room,  told  her  the  exigency,  and  then, 
recollecting  his  mother's  injunction,  put  on  his  hat  and 
stalked  out  on  the  lawn.  A  new  link  in  the  chain  of  con 
sequences  had  been  forged.  Norah  had  suffered  the  bit 
terness  of  death.  Now  he  could  pursue  the  advice  of 
worldliness  and  prudence.  Before,  he  had  dreaded  the 
revelation  to  her.  Ah  !  that  ordeal  was  now  passed.  She 
had  evidently  heard  all ;  she  would  see  that  it  was  not  his 
fault ;  that  he  had  been  willing  to  sacrifice  all,  and  that 
his  mother's  irresistible  reasoning  had  prevailed.  If  there 
could  be  such  a  thing  as  hate  in  her  gentle  breast,  she 
could  not  feel  it  for  him,  for  he  had  given  no  sign  that  he 
would  not  keep  the  tacit  pledges  of  his  long  courtship. 
An  image  of  himself  free,  untrammeled,  the  center  of  the 
social  adulation  that  had  made  his  father's  life  a  patrician 
dream,  arose  before  him. 

Loveless,  in  the  delicious  sense  that  he  associated  with 
Norah,  very  likely  he  would  be.  But,  after  all,  love  be 
comes  a  small  thing  as  men  settle  down  to  the  business  of 
life  and  the  rearing  of  families.  Then  this  image  grew 
hateful  to  him.  He  shuddered  at  its  complacent  smirk, 
its  shallow  semblance  of  manliness,  its  mock  abnegation 
of  all  that  distinguishes  heroism  from  sham.  But  the  end 
was  bewilderment,  and  when,  as  the  dusk  fell,  he  entered 
his  mother's  room,  he  was  in  the  crisis  of  revolt.  She 
knew  it  in  an  instant,  and  warily  placated  his  rising  pro- 


340  THE  ALIENS. 

test.  Norah  was  restored  and  tranquil.  She  would  be 
perfectly  well  before  the  night  ended.  The  physician  was 
with  her,  Mrs.  Blythe,  and  Denis.  But  she  must  not  be 
agitated  by  anything  that  would  recall  the  cause  of  her 
attack.  She,  Mrs.  Warchester,  had  withdrawn  so  soon  as 
consciousness  was  restored,  and  Darcy  must  under  no 
circumstances  be  seen  by  the  invalid.  Why  not  run  up 
to  Bucephalo  for  a  few  days  ?  It  would  be  the  very  best 
thing  for  everybody  concerned.  It  would  avert  gossip,  and 
perhaps  scandal,  and  it  would  give  him  time  to  meet  Agnes 
in  a  more  tranquil  frame  of  mind.  This  last  dexterous 
stroke  was  enough.  The  very  thought  of  meeting  Agnes, 
with  the  hideous  results  of  his  treachery  before  his  eyes, 
fairly  maddened  him.  His  portmanteau  was  ready  in  a 
few  minutes,  and  he  was  in  the  Red  Jacket  as  it  drew  out 
from  the  Rialto  as  the  yellow  sunbeams  threw  lingering 
shadows  over  the  peaceful  streets. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

SWEET    BELLS   JANGLED   OUT    OF    TUNE. 

WHEN  Norah  was  able  to  leave  Warchester  Manor,  as 
madam  was  fond  of  hearing  the  great  mansion  called,  it 
was  not  to  return  to  the  Blue  Jay,  though  Manly's  parox 
ysms  of  despair  would  have  moved  her  soft  heart  had  she 
witnessed  his  rage  and  grief  when  he  learned  that  the 
brother  was  to  take  his  fairy  queen  to  a  cottage  of  her  own. 

Marcus,  who  had  conceived  a  deep  affection  for  Denny, 
had  compared  notes  with  the  boy,  and  pointed  out  the 
necessity  of  removing  Norah  from  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
life  she  had  been  leading.  Among  Marcus's  possessions 


SWEET  BELLS  JANGLED  OUT  OF  TUNE.  341 

was  a  pretty  villa  on  the  banks  of  the  Caribee,  which  he 
had  fitted  up  for  a  maiden  aunt,  who  had  occupied  it  but 
a  few  months  when  death  broke  up  the  domestic  union. 

Denny  was  given  a  place  as  clerk  in  Marcus's  office, 
and,  with  the  pay  from  this  and  some  tutoring  his  patron 
procured,  he  would  be  able  to  support  the  small  expense 
of  this  little  home.  It  was  to  this  tranquil  retreat,  nestling 
at  the  edge  of  the  Holly  Hills,  that  Norah  came  with  a 
little  train,  of  which  Manly  was  the  most  demonstrative 
and  disconsolate.  But  when  Norah  kissed  his  freckled 
cheek,  and  showed  him  a  little  chamber  under  the  peaked 
gable  that  was  to  be  his  own  nook  to  play  in  or  sleep  in, 
he  became  reconciled  in  a  measure  ;  and  thereafter  Manly 
was  a  member  of  the  small  household,  where  of  an  after 
noon  Mrs.  Blythe  came  with  her  sewing,  to  keep  track  of 
the  wayward  truant,  and  counsel  Norah  in  her  new  re 
sponsibilities.  To  crown  all,  the  skill  and  eloquence  of 
Marcus  Dunn  had  snatched  Larry  from  the  perils  that 
threatened.  The  case  was  much  more  favorable  to  the 
young  man  when  the  scattered  witnesses,  at  first  inaccessi 
ble,  had  been  heard.  The  jury,  after  very  short  delibera 
tion,  returned  a  verdict  of  justifiable  homicide,  and  Larry, 
a  transformed  if  not  redeemed  man,  joined  Denny  in 
maintaining  the  home  for  their  sister.  It  was  a  modest 
frame  cottage,  embowered  in  foliage,  where  the  sweep  of 
the  river  could  be  seen  from  all  the  southern  windows,  and 
an  air  of  repose  gave  it  the  charm  Denny  loved. 

In  this  retreat  Norah  was  mistress,  but  only  in  name, 
for  she  was  quite  unconscious  of  her  surroundings.  Her 
mind  had  suffered  a  curious  eclipse.  She  knew  Denny 
and  Marcus,  Manly  and  the  Blythes,  but  she  looked  in 
vague  alarm  at  Larry  when  he  came  into  the  room.  The 
past  was  completely  obliterated,  so  far  as  she  gave  any 
sign.  Her  strength  was  all  her  own  again,  and  she  was 


342  THE  ALIENS. 

the  same  tender,  confiding  playfellow  for  Manly ;  but  of 
the  past  she  never  spoke,  and,  if  it  were  alluded  to,  she 
looked  distraught  and  troubled. 

Watching  her  sometimes  of  an  evening,  as  he  pored 
over  his  law-books,  Denny  trembled  as  the  resemblance 
to  his  mother  came  back,  recalled  by  Norah's  fanciful 
speeches  or  inconsistent  actions.  She  was  never  tired  of 
retelling  stories  to  Manly,  and  the  boy  was  a  more  regular 
inmate  of  the  cottage  than  of  the  Blue  Jay. 

Marcus  alone  conjectured  the  cause  of  Norah's  mental 
aberration — though  this  is  too  strong  a  term  to  describe  it. 
Only  those  who  knew  her  intimately  saw  anything  indicat 
ing  mania  in  her  listless  conduct.  Larry,  who  had  never 
seen  her  since  her  childhood,  had  no  suspicion  that  she 
was  in  any  sense  different  from  the  rest  of  the  family. 
She  had  a  natural  gift  for  music,  and  when  Marcus  sent  a 
piano  to  the  cottage,  she  passed  hours  in  evoking  the  ten 
der  melodies  she  had  not  heard  since  childhood.  Her 
tones  were  rich  and  soft,  and  there  was  no  joy  so  great 
for  Marcus  as  to  sit  in  Denny's  little  study  and  listen  to 
the  soft  strains  stealing  from  the  cozy  parlor,  where  No- 
rah,  quite  oblivious  of  his  quality  of  guest,  played  on  for 
hours  without  addressing  him  a  word.  She  received  him 
precisely  on  the  same  footing  as  Larry,  whose  constant 
presence  in  the  house  seemed  at  first  to  puzzle  her,  until 
she  saw  that  Denny  treated  him  with  yearning  tenderness. 

It  was  Denny's  purpose  to  wean  his  brother  from  his 
old  ways  and  tippling  habits.  The  furnace  of  his  late  trial 
had  burned  all  that  was  vicious  out  of  the  prodigal.  He 
came  to  adore  Denny,  and  his  softest  remonstrance  was  an 
inexorable  command  to  the  duller  understanding  of  the 
elder.  He  resumed  his  trade,  and  was  regarded  with 
great  satisfaction  by  his  employers.  To  this  tranquil  do 
mesticity  Dilly  often  came  of  an  evening  to  take  tea  and 


SWEET  BELLS  JANGLED  OUT  OF   TUNE.  343 

revive  the  memories  of  Marbury  with  Norah.  But,  though 
the  latter  listened  with  evident  understanding,  she  never 
mentioned  the  beloved  places  or  the  ancient  scenes  of 
childhood.  Marcus  had  with  kindly  tact  hinted  enough 
to  put  Dilly  on  her  guard,  and  she  soon  dropped  the  dan 
gerous  theme.  She  helped  Norah  with  her  music,  but 
she  soon  saw  that  what  was  not  naturally  in  Norah's  pos 
session  she  learned  with  difficulty.  She  could  "  play  by 
ear"  almost  anything  she  had  once  heard,  but  the  science 
or  its  application  bewildered  her.  And  so  the  winter 
passed,  and  the  soft  airs  of  a  mild  April  coaxed  the  buds 
and  blossoms  into  bewildering  beauty  in  the  leafy  lanes 
about  the  Holly  Hills. 

Norah  drank  new  life  in  the  arousal  of  Nature,  and  her 
eyes  grew  strangely  bright  in  her  rambles  among  the  hills. 
One  day  of  delicious  balminess,  when  the  arrogant  robins 
chattered  defiance  from  the  starry  branches,  she  wandered 
with  little  Manly  to  the  river's  vernal  brim,  gathering 
forget-me-nots  and  twining  them  with  arbutus.  She  sat 
on  a  mossy  bank,  winding  them  about  her  hair,  until  Manly 
cried  out  in  rapture  at  the  sight : 

"  O  Nody,  you're  just  like  Mab  in  the  picture-book. 
I  will  get  the  car  and  we  will  play  fairy." 

He  scampered  off  to  get  the  car,  and  presently  she 
heard  his  step  behind  her. 

"  Come,  Oberon,  harness  your  shoulders  with  this  line 
of  arbutus,  and  we  will  fly  through  the  air  ! " 

But  Manly  did  not  move.  She  turned  petulantly  to 
upbraid  him.  Standing  behind  her,  his  eyes  dilated  and 
incredulous,  stood  Darcy,  all  the  blood  gone  from  his  face. 
She  did  not  cry  out.  She  did  not  even  look  surprised. 
She  rose  demurely,  and,  walking  to  him,  said  archly : 

"  I  saw  you  coming  over  the  hills — flying — flying.  I 
saw  you  when  the  banshee  made  you  sign  the  black-book, 


344  THE  ALIENS. 

but  I  knew  you  wouldn't  break  your  oath.  I  sang  all  the 
days  to  distract  the  banshees,  and  I  prayed  all  night  that 
your  heart  might  be  strong." 

She  put  up  her  two  arms,  wound  them  around  his 
neck  as  he  had  taught  her  to  do  at  Marbury,  and,  pressing 
his  head  down,  thrilled  him  to  the  marrow  with  the  old, 
lingering  kiss.  It  was  said  and  done  with  a  movement  so 
simple,  so  natural,  so  seductive,  that  it  was  only  at  the 
meeting  of  the  lips — a  meeting  that  makes  a  man  saint  or 
devil,  according  to  the  fiber  of  him — that  Darcy  realized 
the  situation.  He  had  gone  to  Bucephalo  while  she  lay 
under  his  mother's  roof.  From  Bucephalo,  tortured  and 
unequal  to  the  part  before  him  at  home,  he  had  joined  a 
party  of  exploring  engineers  in  the  Marquette  Peninsula, 
and  was  only  a  few  days  home.  Of  Norah,  all  he  had 
heard  was  that  she  was  living  contentedly  with  her  broth 
ers.  But  it  was  not  said  where.  The  meeting,  therefore, 
was  as  unsought  as  it  was  unexpected.  His  first  thought 
was  that  she  had  wandered  from  a  careless  keeper,  and 
that  it  was  necessary  to  humor  her  mad  whim.  But  there 
was  more  than  passive  yielding  in  the  feverish  embrace  in 
which  he  held  her  willowy  form.  She  caught  the  garland 
of  arbutus  hanging  on  her  neck,  and,  twining  the  ends  to 
gether,  threw  them  over  his  head,  then  gently  led  him  to 
the  mossy  knoll  where  she  had  been  sitting,  and  enthroned 
him  gravely,  as  though  the  act  had  been  a  prearranged 
ceremonial.  Then,  in  a  soft,  crooning  chant,  to  a  fantastic 
ally  capricious  measure,  she  sang  in  soft,  clear  notes,  evi 
dently  improvisations  from  the  ballads  she  had  heard  her 
mother  sing  long  ago  : 

"  Winter 's  wraith  is  fled  afield, 
And  bids  false  love  beware  ! 
Spring  is  come  with  balm  and  shield. 
And  bids  true  love  to  dare  t " 


SWEET  SELLS  JANGLED  OUT  OF   TUNE.  345 

With  an  indescribable  swaying  unison  of  body  and  in 
tent  she  repeated  the  lines,  arranging  the  flowers  in  her  lap 
at  the  same  time  : 

"  On  the  lea  the  crocus  nods, 
Breaking  through  the  frosty  sods, 
As  love  that' s  fettered  wrests  its  gyves, 
And  in  its  cruel  hardship  thrives. 
Shamrocks  tremble  in  the  winds, 
Hope  fulfills  to  him  that  finds." 

She  took  from  her  bosom  a  four-leaved  clover,  pressed 
it  to  her  lips,  and  with  a  capricious  gesture  laid  it  in  the 
palm  of  Darcy's  hand,  closing  her  own  over  his  with  the 
talisman  in  it : 

"  By  the  pool  the  goblins  stray, 

Prank  by  night  and  hide  by  day  ; 

Under  furzes  midges  sleep, 

Waiting  May-day's  breath  to  peep  ; 

Under  brambles  fairies  roam, 

Pining  till  the  flowers  be  come. 

In  bosky  dells  the  Elf -men  hide, 

Till  Ariel  comes  to  claim  his  bride!" 

She  stopped  suddenly.  Her  voice  had  grown  softer 
and  the  accentuation  was  recitative.  Then  she  sat  down 
near  Darcy  and  looked  solemnly  at  him,  as  if  in  wonder 
that  he  didn't  join  her  melodious  memoir  of  her  past  love. 
As  he  sat  quite  still,  fairly  panic-stricken  by  the  spectacle 
of  the  unstrung  fibers  of  her  mind,  she  began  again, 
now  scattering  the  shining  arbutus  leaves  in  a  sort  of 
Druid  ceremonial : 

"  Through  the  hedges  bluebells  ring 
Welcome  to  the  voice  of  spring, 
Mab  weaves  her  robe  of  moss  and  thyme, 
While  maidens  ptit  the  tale  in  rhyme, 
To  sing  to  love  that's  leal  and  true  ; 
Faithless  love  they  deck  with  rue." 


346  THE  ALIENS. 

How  long  she  could  have  continued  these  fantastic 
rhythmic  reminiscences,  Darcy  was  not  destined  to  learn, 
for  at  this  point  the  astonished  Manly  obtruded  himself. 
He  had  been  standing  unseen  by  Norah  for  some  mo 
ments,  but,  as  he  saw  that  she  was  growing  strangely  unlike 
herself,  he  became  frightened  and  touched  her  hand. 
She  looked  at  him  composedly,  smiled  at  Darcy,  and 
said  : 

"  It's  a  child  the  little  people  are  fond  of.  He  carries 
the  light  for  the  fire-flies."  She  patted  Manly  on  the 
shoulder  caressingly,  and  seemed  quite  unconscious  that 
Darcy  hadn't  opened  his  lips. 

"  We  must  go  now,  you  know ! "  She  looked  at 
Darcy,  then  at  Manly.  "Come,  we  must  not  be  in  the 
dark  until  the  fire-flies  come.  The  evil  eye  will  look  into 
our  hearts  and  pick  out  our  love's  secrets.  Come  !  " 

Chanting  as  she  walked  with  her  arm  about  Darcy, 
and  looking  confidingly  in  his  eyes  she  sang : 

"  Sweetheart,  mine  by  every  token, 
By  fairy  laws  that  ne'er  were  broken  ; 
By  holy  troth,  in  faith  to  keep  ; 
Mine  in  waking,  mine  in  sleep, 
Mine  by  Nature  s  sweet  decree, 
Mine  in  wedlock's  destiny. 
Lip  to  lip,  heart  to  heart, 
Ours  the  link  no  fate  can  part. 

Darcy  looked  in  perplexity  from  Manly  to  Norah. 
She  grew  coaxingly  caressing.  She  seized  his  hand, 
kissed  it,  stroked  it,  and  then — winding  the  broken  shreds 
of  the  arbutus  garland  about  his  neck — playfully  led  him 
through  the  thickets  along  the  river  path  to  the  cottage. 
Manly  trudged  on  ahead  and  Darcy  dared  not  ask  him  a 
question.  He  was  as  much  mystified  when  she  led  him 
into  the  trim  little  villa,  and  quite  soberly  said : 


SWEET  BELLS  JANGLED  OUT  OF  TUNE.  347 

"  It  has  been  all  ready  for  you  this  many  a  day.  The 
fairies  did  it.  They  bid  you  come  when  you  were  far 
away."  She  sank  into  a  seat  as  she  looked  at  Darcy  ;  slowly 
her  gaze  changed  to  a  stare.  Then  she  rose,  walked  con 
fusedly  to  the  door,  turned  and  looked  at  Darcy  again, 
and,  without  a  word,  disappeared. 

Manly  explained,  so  far  as  he  knew,  the  situation.  Ever 
since  the  attack,  Norah  had  been  out  of  her  head  ;  didn't 
know  people  that  she  had  known  well,  and  seemed  to 
know  others  that  she  had  never  seen.  Darcy  left  the 
house  with  a  heavy,  heavy  heart.  All  the  old  forces  in 
his  soul  began  the  combats  anew.  Here  was  his  handi 
work.  God  !  how  lovely  she  was,  how  pure,  how  like  the 
seraph  faces  of  the  masters  !  Could  the  ideal  of  an  angel 
be  fairer  or  lovelier  !  Even  with  unbalanced  mind,  whom 
had  he  ever  seen  that  compared  with  her  elfin  beauty  ? 

He  met  Denny  as  he  emerged  into  the  park  road  and  told 
him  that  he  had  seen  Norah — alluding  even  to  her  curious 
delusion — thinking  that  perhaps  it  was  better  to  prepare 
the  brother  for  anything  Norah  might  divulge.  The  freak 
did  not  surprise  Denny.  Her  treatment  of  Larry  showed 
that  she  had  no  realization  of  the  personality  of  the  people 
about  her.  But  on  reaching  home  he  found  Norah's  man 
ner  inexplicably  altered.  She  looked  at  him  in  a  question 
ing  surprise,  and  when,  later,  Larry  came  home,  she  fled 
from  the  room,  as  though  he  had  been  a  stranger.  Late 
in  the  night,  as  she  did  not  reappear,  Denny  went  to  her 
room.  Her  mirror  was  garlanded  with  the  laurel  leaves, 
arbutus,  and  untimely  blossoms  lured  into  bloom  by  the 
May  warmth  of  April.  She  had  decked  herself  in  the 
pretty  gown  Denny  had  discovered  her  in  that  memorable 
night  long  before  at  Marbury.  The  jewels  sparkled  in  her 
ears,  and  she  held  up  her  hand,  with  her  finger  to  her  lips, 
on  which  the  ring  glittered. 


348 


THE  ALIENS. 


"  I  sang  the  fairy  song,  and  he  came  back  to  me,  Den 
ny  dear.  Did  you  see  him  with  the  love-light  in  his  eye  ? 
He  came  when  I  sang  : 

"  Violets  blue  for  lovers  true, 
Marigold  for  lovers  bold, 
Garlands  sweet  for  lovers  mete, 
Kisses  blithe 
True  love's  tithe. 
We  will  wed  now,  willy  nilly, 
Nosegays  fine  of  daffodilly — 
Daffodilly— daffodilly— •" 

Her  voice  rose  soft  and  clear  with  unutterable  joy  in 
it.  She  followed  the  words  with  slow  mimic  dance  move 
ment,  and  at  the  end  stood  before  her  brother  palpitating, 
radiant ! 

He  was  greatly  disturbed.  Her  mania  had  never  be 
fore  denned  itself  so  openly.  He  feared  to  leave  her 
alone,  and  without  her  knowledge  brought  a  couch  and 
slept  within  sound  of  her  voice  during  the  night. 

Marcus  had  been  called  East  on  a  professional  mission, 
and  Denny  had  no  one  to  consult  with  save  the  physician 
who  had  attended  her  in  the  first  illness.  He  sent  for 
the  doctor,  who  listened  to  the  new  symptoms,  and  having 
examined  Norah  carefully,  charged  Denny  to  encourage 
the  invalid's  delusion,  to  let  her  see  all  that  was  possible 
of  the  person  who  had  changed  the  current  of  her  thought. 
That  he  felt  sure  this  was  the  beginning  of  a  complete  res 
toration,  for,  said  the  medical  man,  she  associated  him 
with  scenes  that  have  a  powerful  influence  on  the  memory 
preceding  her  mental  collapse,  and  if  he  be  prudent  and 
will  consent  to  humor  her  for  a  few  days,  the  heart  will 
restore  the  missing  link,  and  she  will  be  herself  again. 

Denny  told  Darcy  this  later.     He  did  not  notice  the 


SWEET  BELLS  JANGLED  OUT  OF   TUNE.  349 

frightened  look  in  the  young  man's  eyes,  as  Darcy  said 
constrainedly: 

"  I  shall  be  very  glad,  indeed,  to  try  the  experiment, 
though  I  think  it  dangerous  to  trifle  with  the  poor  child's 
delusion." 

He  came  to  the  cottage  that  day  and  many  days  there 
after.  She  was  expecting  him,  and  the  scenes  of  the  first 
meeting  were  renewed.  One  day,  however,  Darcy  failed  to 
come.  Norah  wandered  off  by  herself,  and,  as  she  flitted 
about  in  the  budding  grasses,  she  came  suddenly  before 
Darcy,  who  was  gathering  primroses  by  a  little  stream  of 
running  water.  Agnes  was  with  him,  and  their  horses 
browsed  on  the  young  shrubs.  Agnes  started  in  surprise 
as  Norah,  with  dilated  eyes  and  heaving  breast,  stood  with 
a  trailing  train  of  green  leaves  wreathed  with  gentians  fall 
ing  from  her  wrist. 

"  What  dryad  priestess  is  this  ?  I  declare,  she  has 
an  unreal  look — unsubstantial  as  Spenser's  mythic  maids," 
and  Agnes  shuddered. 

"  Ah,  it  is  Norah — you  remember — the  pretty  ward  of 
Dr.  Marbury,"  and  Darcy  made  a  significant  gesture. 
The  brook  was  between  him  and  Norah.  It  ran  limpid 
and  gurgling  over  white  pebbles  and  soft,  velvety  reefs  of 
rich  moss,  flecked  by  coral  buds,  that  gleamed  like  lurid 
eyes  in  the  transparent  green  of  the  moss.  She  came 
quite  to  the  edge  of  the  stream,  threw  the  wreaths  from 
her  body  into  the  cove,  and  looked  fixedly  into  Darcy 's 
eyes.  She  held  out  her  hand  archly.  Darcy,  smiling  at 
Agnes,  placed  his  own  within  Norah's  across  the  little 
channel.  She  hesitated  a  moment,  then,  gazing  into  the 
clear  water  fixedly,  she  murmured  in  a  whisper  that  Darcy 
alone  distinctly  heard  : 

"  In  the  book  of  hearts  'tis  writ, 
List  true  love,  give  heed  to  it. 


350  THE  ALIENS. 

By  the  running  waters  edge 
Fairies  seal  the  lover  s  pledge  : 
If  he  breaks,  a  life  he  takes," 

Startled  and  trembling,  Darcy  drew  his  hand  away  and 
recoiled.  She  leaned  forward,  her  lips  parted,  and  a 
strange  light  slowly  filled  her  wide-open  eyes. 

"  Really,  Darcy,  if  this  is  a  little  comedy  you  have  in 
vented,  I  must  congratulate  you.  Nothing  could  be  more 
romantic  than  this  sylvan  setting,  and  the  dramatis  persona 
are  as  moving  as  a  certain  scene  in  the  *  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream.'  Only  the  ass's  ears  have  been  forgotten."  And, 
drawing  up  the  flowing  skirts  of  her  riding  habit,  Agnes 
turned  her  back,  and,  walking  haughtily  to  her  horse, 
neighing  a  loud  welcome,  she  fell  to  caressing  its  glossy 
neck.  Darcy  followed  her,  whispering  : 

"  Don't  you  see  the  poor  girl's  insane  ?  She  has  been 
suffering  delusion  since  last  autumn,  when  she  received  a 
dreadful  shock." 

"  Indeed  !  "  and  Agnes  turned  to  look  at  her  rival  with 
more  curiosity  than  sympathy.  "Why  don't  her  people 
keep  her  under  guard  ?  It  must  be  embarrassing  for  the 
young  men,  if  she  constrains  them  all  into  her  mystic  rites 
in  this  preposterous  fashion,  or  does  she  confine  her  mad 
devotion  to  you  ?  " 

"  I'm  surprised  at  you,  Agnes  !  "  And,  shocked  by  the 
girl's  heartlessness,  Darcy  turned  to  see  what  had  become 
of  Norah.  She  was  standing  motionless,  rooted,  dumb,  on 
the  mossy  pedestal  on  the  brink  of  the  brook,  the  wild 
light  faded  from  her  eye,  an  expression  of  doubt  and  ter 
ror  replacing  it.  She  did  not  stir  as  Darcy  came  back  ; 
nor  did  she  answer  when  he  said  caressingly  : 

"  Go  home,  Norah.     I  will  come  soon  !  " 

She  was  in  the  same  attitude  when  they  rode  away, 
and  when,  two  hours  later,  Darcy  hurried  to  the  cottage, 


SWEET  BELLS  JANGLED  OUT  OF   TUNE.  351 

she  had  not  returned.  Filled  with  vague  apprehensions, 
he  scoured  the  leafy  coverts  of  the  Holly  Hills,  but  there 
was  no  trace  of  her.  As  a  last  hope,  he  set  out  for  the 
brook,  which  was  far  from  the  cottage.  The  air  had 
grown  chilly,  as  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon.  He  came 
suddenly  upon  her  as  she  sat  on  the  same  spot,  dropping 
the  coral  blossoms  of  the  moss  into  the  water,  and  mutter 
ing  something  like  an  incantation  as  the  dainty  petals 
were  whirled  buoyantly  on  the  bosom  of  the  dancing 
stream.  The  picture  was  so  pretty,  her  attitude  so  grace 
ful,  and  the  smile  reflected  back  from  the  water  so  tran 
quil  and  happy,  that  Darcy  couldn't  bear  to  break  in  on  the 
tryst.  He  stole  softly  to  her  side  and  bent  over  her  to 
see  what  she  was  watching  so  intently.  In  an  instant  his 
face  was  mirrored  beside  her  own  in  the  limpid  wave. 

She  caught  sight  of  it,  and  started  with  a  little  cry.  He 
caught  her,  or  she  would  have  sunk  in  the  stream.  She 
turned  her  face  upward,  and,  recognizing  him,  paled  to  a 
deathly  pallor,  gasped  something  he  could  not  understand, 
and  her  head  fell  backward.  She  had  lost  consciousness, 
he  could  see  at  once.  It  was  useless  to  call  for  help.  He 
picked  her  up  and  carried  her  as  best  he  could  back  to  the 
cottage.  The  physician  was  summoned.  He  declared 
that  she  would  recover  with  reason  restored,  or  become  a 
hopelessly  mad  woman.  For  three  days  she  wandered  de 
liriously,  and  on  the  fourth  she  aroused  early  in  the  morn 
ing,  got  up  and  dressed  herself  calmly — looking  with  a 
puzzled  air  at  the  room  as  though  it  was  strange  to  her. 
The  nurse  who  occupied  a  cot  in  the  chamber  said  : 
"  What  is  it,  Norah — do  you  need  anything  ?  " 
"  O  Betty,  are  you  there  ?  Why  am  I  here  ?  In  your 
room,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  yes,  but  why  do  you  rise  so  early  ?     It's  hardly 
daylight." 


352  THE  ALIENS. 

"I  ought  to  have  been  down  much  earlier.  Mrs. 
Blythe  has  a  great  deal  to  do  to-day.  The  Convocation 
is  to  be  held,  and  the  house  will  be  full." 

The  nurse  hastened  out  of  the  room,  leaving  Norah, 
who  looked  in  amazement  at  her  surroundings.  Denny  was 
soon  with  her,  and  explained  that  she  had  been  ill,  and 
that  she  was  now  her  own  mistress,  and  head  of  the  little 
home.  It  was  a  long  time  before  she  could  bring  her 
mind  to  comprehend  the  change.  Nothing  was  said 
about  the  time  she  had  been  ill,  but  when  she  looked  out 
and  saw  the  soft  spring  colors,  she  said :  "  Why,  Denny, 
I've  been  ill  since  October  !  It's  spring  now." 

"Yes,  dear,  you've  been  ill  a  long  time.  It's  now  the 
last  week  in  May.  The  winter  was  very  open,  and  the 
spring  is  very  early."  He  passed  all  the  morning  with 
her :  led  her  through  all  the  pretty  shrubbery,  which 
seemed  quite  new  to  her;  and  when,  near  noon,  he  set 
out  for  his  office,  Norah  was  in  a  flutter  of  delight. 
When  Darcy  came,  after  noon,  she  was  in  the  garden,  and, 
when  she  saw  him,  welcomed  him  with  a  look  of  shy  de 
light,  resuming  exactly  the  old  manner  at  Marbury,  where 
her  timid  joy  in  his  presence  had  first  won  his  heart. 

She  had  no  suspicion  of  the  recent  past,  and  showed 
him  about  the  little  home  with  a  girlish  enjoyment  that 
gave  her  new  beauty  in  Darcy's  eyes.  Later  in  the  day 
they  wandered  through  the  pretty  copses  near  the  river, 
and  went  as  far  as  the  boat-house.  She  recalled  that,  but 
looked  upon  her  late  haunts  with  wondering  eyes.  Never 
had  her  strange  beauty  shone  out  so  enchantingly.  It  was 
as  if  a  spirit  had  clothed  .itself  just  so  far  in  flesh  as  to 
bear  resemblance  to  mortal,  with  hardly  any  of  the  imper 
fections  of  the  body. 

Wretched  Darcy !  He  had  fought  and  fled  ;  and  here 
he  was  anew  on  the  brink  of  the  maelstrom,  with  less  and 


SWEET  BELLS  JANGLED  OUT  OF   TUNE.  353 

less  power  of  resistance.  Day  after  day  he  came,  resolv 
ing  every  day  that  he  would  come  no  more.  Weeks 
passed.  His  mother  had  long  before  settled  the  marriage 
day,  and  before  the  end  of  June  he  was  to  take  his  bride 
to  Europe.  His  meetings  with  Norah  were,  toward  the 
end,  stolen  moments  of  transport,  for  Marcus  had  re 
turned,  and  the  cottage  was  no  longer  accessible  under 
that  stern  eye.  He  invented  pretexts  for  her  to  go  to  the 
boat-house,  and  there  she  came  artlessly,  with  the  small 
Manly,  who  became  a  very  expert  boatman  during  the 
trysts  of  the  lovers  in  the  pretty  pavilion.  In  May  the 
company  for  the  war  had  been  raised.  It  was  to  join 
General  Scott  at  Vera  Cruz.  Unknown  to  his  family, 
Darcy  accepted  the  captaincy,  and  when  the  lieutenant 
marched  off  for  New  York,  Darcy  gave  his  word  that  he 
would  be  with  them  before  they  sailed.  He  told  Norah 
that  he  was  going  to  the  wars,  and  that  she  must  wait 
patiently  for  him.  He  would  be  back  in  six  months  at 
the  farthest ;  she  must  be  brave.  To  his  mother's  angry 
reproaches  he  remained  silent,  saying,  doggedly  : 

"  It  was  yours  and  my  father's  wish  that  I  should  go 
into  the  war.  I  signed  the  roll  long  ago.  The  call  is 
come,  and  I  must  go."  So  the  preparations  for  the  wed 
ding  were  stopped.  Agnes  laughed  gayly  when  it  was  told 
her,  and  said,  lightly  : 

"  A  soldier  fresh  from  the  wars  will  make  a  more  ardent 
lover.  It  will  do  Darcy  no  harm  to  wait." 

When  Denny  heard  of  Darcy's  going,  he  went  straight 
to  Marcus.  "  Darcy  Warchester  goes  in  command  of  the 
city  company.  I  owe  him  a  great  debt  of  gratitude.  I 
owe  the  country  my  services.  I  am  going  to  join  the 
army." 

Marcus  did  not  approve,  but  he  did  not  remonstrate. 
He  undertook  to  watch  over  the  inmates  of  the  cottage. 


354  THE  ALIENS. 

He  was  to  collect  Denny's  pay  as  a  private  soldier,  and 
expend  it  for  the  maintenance  of  the  little  household. 
This,  with  Larry's  earnings,  would  keep  them  comfort 
ably.  Norah  heard  Denny's  resolution  with  mingled  joy 
and  sorrow.  He  would  be  near  Darcy,  and  protect  him 
in  the  hour  of  danger.  Darcy,  too,  would  be  Denny's 
friend.  She  bade  him  God  speed,  with  a  strange  light  in 
her  eye,  and  a  look  so  wistful  and  intent  that  Denny  car 
ried  the  sadness  of  it  in  his  heart  for  many  a  day  after 
ward. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

AN    ARMY    WITH    BANNERS. 

To  the  generation  actively  or  passively  part  of  the 
stupendous  Iliad  whose  movements  filled  this  continent 
from  1 86 1  until  1865,  the  incursion  into  Mexico  in  1846 
lingers  in  the  memory  as  a  mere  episode.  But,  though 
millions  did  not  march  to  battle,  and  the  nation's  destiny 
was  not  staked  on  the  issue,  our  fathers  watched  the  con 
test  with  clouded  hopes  and  beating  hearts.  The  war, 
which  had  at  first  seemed  the  impulse  of  one  group  of 
States,  gradually  fired  the  patriotism  of  all ;  and  from  the 
gloomy  pine  lands  of  Maine,  and  the  sterile  quarries  of 
Massachusetts,  volunteers  poured  forth,  as  eager  and 
resolute  as  the  bands  that  leaped  first  to  arms  from  the 
tropic  prairies  of  Texas  and  Louisiana.  And,  though 
there  was  no  telegraph  then  to  keep  the  country  informed 
within  a  few  minutes  of  every  blow  struck  and  march 
made,  news-letters  were  passed  from  hand  to  hand  in  the 
public  marts,  apprising  anxious  kinsmen  of  the  intrepid 


AN  ARMY    WITH  BANNERS.  355 

deeds  of  their  distant  darlings.  The  glorious  tidings  of 
Scott's  master-stroke  at  Jalapa,  April  18,  1847,  were  ring 
ing  through  the  North,  when  Darcy's  company  reached 
New  York  in  June.  A  few  days  later  Denny  joined  him 
as  the  troups  were  embarking  for  Vera  Cruz. 

Darcy  welcomed  him  with  a  peculiar  expression  of  coun 
tenance,  which  puzzled  the  eager  recruit.  But  he  was  very 
kind  to  him,  though  Denny  did  not  presume  upon  his  re 
lation  to  the  friend  to  escape  the  formal  allegiance  of  the 
soldier.  Darcy's  contingent  was  assigned  to  a  regular  regi 
ment,  which  he  found  at  Puebla  after  a  month's  voyage. 
The  army  had  just  moved  out  from  the  town,  the  .general  - 
in-chief  having  decided  on  that  brilliant  and  daring  move 
which  ended  in  the  seizure  of  the  Mexican  capital. 

Darcy  had  shown  a  strange  reluctance  to  Denny's  serv 
ing  under  him,  and  it  was  with  grief  rather  than  surprise 
the  young  soldier  learned  that,  on  the  recommendation  of 
his  captain,  he  was  assigned  to  headquarters  duty.  With 
bursting  heart  he  hurried  to  the  captain's  tent,  and,  with 
very  unsoldierly  tears  streaming  from  his  eyes,  faltered  : 

"  Captain  Darcy,  what  have  I  done  ?  How  have  I 
offended  you,  that  you  won't  let  me  serve  in  your  com 
pany  ? " 

"  Done,  Denny  ?  Good  God,  done  !  It  is  I  who  should 
be  serving  and  you  commanding.  I  gave  your  name  to 
the  adjutant-general  when  he  asked  for  clerical  aids,  be 
cause  I  knew  that  you  would  win  his  notice  and  secure 
promotion.  That  was  my  motive,  Denny.  God  knows, 
I  owe  you  much — how  much  I  can  not  say.  With  your 
education  and  tastes,  the  place  of  private  must  be  unen 
durable.  It  was  that  you  may  escape  it  that  I  seized  the 
chance  for  you." 

Denny's  eyes  were  not  dry,  but  they  glistened  with 
pride  and  joy. 


356  THE  ALIENS. 

"  I  should  not  have  felt  so  badly,  only — only  I  got  the 
notion  somehow  that  you  didn't  want  me  near  you.  You 
have  seemed  different  in  a  sense  from  what  you  used  to 
be,  and  I  feared  that  I  had  provoked  or  offended  you." 

Darcy's  head  was  bent  down.  He  never  met  the  lad's 
eyes  now  when  he  talked  with  him,  and  it  was  this  curious 
change  that  had  chilled  Denny,  for  hitherto  Darcy's  eyes 
had  met  his  gaze  tranquilly  and  fearlessly.  He  arose  and 
walked  the  little  space  in  the  tent,  keeping  his  face  away 
from  his  subordinate,  and  at  length  said  huskily : 

"  Denny,  I  am  a  miserable,  unhappy  fellow.  If  death 
comes  to  me  in  this  campaign,  it  will  be  the  happiest  end 
of  my  troubles,  and  perhaps — "  He  hesitated.  "  Never 
mind  me,  Denny ;  I  am  as  I  always  was  to  you.  Don't 
forget  that — "  he  looked  at  him  wistfully — "  don't  forget 
that."  Then,  recurring  to  the  original  subject,  he  said: 
"  The  company  is  in  need  of  a  sergeant,  and  I  shall  ap 
point  you  to-morrow.  That  will  release  you  from  the  heavy 
manual  labor  of  police  and  guard  duty.  You  need  not 
hesitate.  It  is  not  favoritism.  You  have  been  recom 
mended  by  the  lieutenant  already,  who  bears  testimony  to 
your  efficiency  in  drill  and  company  manoeuvres." 

That  evening  at  parade  Denny's  name  was  read  off  as 
sergeant,  and  thereafter  he  found  his  lines  less  laborious. 
He  was  not  routed  at  daylight  to  clear  the  company 
"  streets,"  make  the  fires,  or,  unless  he  chose,  do  any 
manual  labor,  save  caring  for  his  gun  and  accouterments. 
A  few  days  later  he  was  chosen  to  be  color-sergeant,  and 
thenceforward  he  saw  little  of  Darcy,  as  the  color-ser 
geants'  tents  are  in  a  group,  and  for  the  time  being  are 
detached  from  their  respective  companies. 

Having  swung  the  army  from  its  base,  by  a  movement 
like  McClellan's  in  1862,  General  Scott  pushed  rapidly 
toward  the  plateau  of  Mexico.  The  march  was  a  prodigy 


AN  ARMY    WITH  BANNERS.  357 

of  precision  and  audacity.  The  sun  by  day  beat  down  like 
the  breath  of  invisible  furnaces.  The  soil  rose  up  like  an 
impenetrable  wall  of  sand.  The  horizon  was  lost  in  a 
glittering  mirage,  and  the  soldiers  seemed  gaunt  specters  of 
an  army,  pursuing  thin  air.  Food  was  scarce  and  foraging 
fatal,  for  the  guerrillas  hovered  on  the  compact  flanks  in 
energetic  watchfulness.  Water  so  brackish,  alkaline,  and 
astringent  that  it  maddened  the  vitals  without  allaying 
thirst,  was  all  that  could  be  got.  Sickness  and  the  scourge 
fell  upon  the  wan  and  ghastly  companies. 

Darcy  was  stricken  with  a  noisome  malady,  and,  when 
it  came  to  Denny's  ears,  he  found  him  bundled  in  an  am 
bulance,  deserted  and  maniacal.  For  days  the  lad  hovered 
over  him,  marching  by  the  wagon,  and  cooling  his  parched 
lips  with  water  painfully  got,  boiled  and  strained.  Skilled 
in  the  lore  of  herbs,  he  made  a  decoction  from  the  moist 
plaintain  leaves  found  under  the  rocky  bowlders,  and,  in 
the  end,  Darcy  mended  slowly.  Others,  not  so  desperately 
seized,  died,  and  the  regimental  surgeon  declared  that 
Captain  Warchester  owed  his  life  to  the  devotion  of  Ser 
geant  Boyne.  Darcy  heard  the  verdict  with  an  expression 
of  such  ghastly  emotion  that  the  kind  surgeon  drew  a  very 
poor  conclusion  of  the  young  officer's  bravery,  for  he  as 
cribed  the  look  to  terror  of  death. 

Denny  resumed  his  place  with  the  colors,  very  proud 
and  happy.  He  watched  Darcy,  so  splendid  and  hand 
some  on  his  fine  steed,  for  the  young  officer  was  now  of 
the  staff,  and  he  secretly  exulted  in  the  chance  that  had 
enabled  him  to  do  his  adored  friend  a  service.  He  watched 
the  pensive  rider,  as,  of  an  evening,  when  the  columns 
were  separated,  the  vigilant  arrieros  came  swooping  down 
from  the  thick  chaparral  to  stampede  the  cattle,  and  his 
heart  swelled  with  the  pride  of  a  father  as  he  saw  his  hero 
whip  out  his  sabre,  throw  his  stately  shoulders  back,  and 


358  THE  ALIENS. 

dash  to  the  point  of  danger.  All  this  he  wrote  home,  and 
Marcus  was  careful  that  the  fond  mother  should  regularly 
get  sight  of  the  letters,  for  Darcy  wrote  seldom,  and  then 
only  a  brief  line  to  say  that  all  was  well.  But  patriot 
homes  were  not  the  agitated  groups  of  i86i-'65.  Tender 
hearts  were  not  torn  by  the  deadly  panic  of  the  civil  war. 
The  absent  soldier-boy  was  missed,  but  the  tales  of  death 
were  so  slow  in  coming  northward  that  it  was  not  until  the 
war  was  ended  that  the  pillage  of  death  was  fully  known. 
It  was  mostly  the  petty  miseries  or  amusements  of  the 
camp,  the  march,  and  the  stirring  movements  in  the  chase 
that  filled  the  home  mind. 

It  was  only  the  adventurous  who  had  marched  to  con 
quest  ;  the  few  that  left  the  quiet  villages  of  the  land 
made  no  gap  in  the  social  or  industrial  activities.  Such 
seasons  of  agonized  doubts  and  despair  as  filled  those  dire 
July  days,  when  the  whispers  of  Bull  Run  flew  North, 
were  never  known.  Seasons  of  sickening  dread  and  pray 
erful  protest,  such  as  held  the  country's  heart  in  terror, 
during  those  awful  hours  when  the  race  was  not  to  the 
swift  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong — Gaines's  Mill,  Seven 
Pines,  Malvern — had  no  part  in  the  brief  but  decisive 
promenade  in  the  Mexican  jungles.  Hearts  that  hung  in 
trembling  hope  on  the  bulletins  that  told  the  bloody  tale, 
from  Antietam  and  Gettysburg  to  Atlanta  and  Five  Forks, 
which  bore  the  swift  alternation  of  mortal  death  and  im 
mortal  deed,  as  the  dreadful  battle-play  changed  from  de 
feat  and  disaster  to  victory  and  conquest,  found  little  play 
in  the  spectacular  drama  of  the  Mexican  campaign. 

It  was  a  wonderful  epos  notwithstanding.  It  was  real 
war  so  long  as  it  lasted,  and  its  conduct  was  another  illus 
tration  of  the  indomitable,  aggressive,  sustained  pertina 
city  of  the  Saxon  race.  The  history  of  it,  read  centuries 
hence,  will  strike  our  descendants  as  the  incursions  of 


AN  ARMY   WITH  BANNERS.  359 

Hannibal  or  Attila  sounded  to  the  degenerate  Romans  of 
the  Eastern  Empire.  There  were  no  official  correspond 
ents  in  those  days  to  embalm  the  minutest  details  as  well 
as  the  grand  manoeuvres  in  ten  thousand  home  prints. 
Official  bulletins  gave  all  the  news,  and  they  were  rare. 

A  paragraph  in  the  county  paper  contained  the  result 
of  a  battle,  and  the  lists  of  the  lost  were  only  known  months 
after  the  killed  and  wounded  had  been  sleeping  under  the 
Southern  sands.  But  our  gentle  Dilly  was  not  restricted 
to  the  cold  and  perfunctory  reports  of  the  staff.  She  had 
a  Xenophon  in  the  column,  who  kept  her  apprised  of  the 
army's  movements  with  a  copiousness  and  point  of  view 
that  would  have  astonished  General  Scott  or  his  observ 
ant  aids.  In  this  Anabasis  Dilly  recognized  the  vigor 
ous  insight  of  Csesar  and  the  precision  of  Thucydides. 
Under  his  imaginative  glance  the  tame  details  of  camp 
life,  the  hurry  of  the  march,  the  terrors  of  the  encounter, 
took  a  perfervid  tone  of  romance  that  recalled  the  tragedy 
of  the  Spanish  invasion,  and  the  poetry  of  the  religious 
pageant  that  signalized  the  Castilian  conquest. 

He  had,  in  order  to  fit  himself  for  the  double  part  of 
soldier  and  historian,  taken  Spanish  text-books  with  him, 
and  at  the  end  of  three  months  was  able  to  talk  in  broken 
phrases  with  the  prisoners,  or  gossip  with  the  few  natives 
that  remained  on  the  line  of  march.  His  mastery  of  Latin 
made  the  latter  easy,  and  he  was  regarded  with  much  awe 
by  his  indolent  comrades  in  the  ranks,  and  with  great  favor 
by  his  superiors,  who  were  often  compelled  to  make  use  of 
his  acquisitions  in  questioning  the  free  lances  brought  in 
by  the  pickets.  In  September  Dilly  received  a  long  letter 
resuming  the  operations  since  the  famous  movement  from 
Vera  Cruz  : 

"  For  six  weeks,"  he  wrote,  "  we  have  been  marching 
day  and  night ;  fighting,  skirmishing,  flanking,  and  pushing 
16 


360  THE  ALIENS. 

Santa  Anna  nearer  and  nearer  Mexico — where  we  hope 
our  labors  end.  Our  course  has  taken  us  over  the  same 
arid  wastes  and  burning  sands,  under  the  same  glisten 
ing  pinnacles  of  rock  that  Cortez  and  his  men  looked 
upon  two  centuries  ago.  The  land  is  in  air,  verdure, 
color,  and  everything  that  makes  a  country  —  every 
thing,  I  mean,  that  impresses  the  eye  and  the  sense — so 
different  from  our  sober  Northern  climes,  that  I  can 
hardly  hope  to  make  you  see  what  has  now  become  so  fa 
miliar  to  me  that  it  seems,  if  not  quite  natural,  in  keeping 
with  this  picturesque  campaign.  Houses,  in  one  sense, 
there  are  none. 

"  Sometimes  in  high  hopes  we  come  to  a  village  an 
nounced  long  before  by  some  enchanting  Spanish  name, 
and,  when  we  get  to  it,  there  is  nothing  but  a  cross  with  a 
Madonna  and  child  in  an  alcove,  a  lighted  taper,  and  per 
haps  two  or  three  ruined  mud  cabins,  called  '  adobes.' 
By  day  the  soil  is  a  glare  of  burning  particles ;  the  air  is 
filled  with  needles  of  light,  that  penetrate,  irritate,  and 
madden  the  palate  and  lungs.  But  when  there  is  no 
movement  of  the  army,  the  illuminated  miles  of  cloud  are 
the  haven  of  the  argosies  of  all  that  I  can  conceive  as 
beautiful.  It  is  the  mirage,  and  the  fantastic  tricks  that 
it  plays  were  never  dreamed  in  Dante's  vision,  or  in  the 
Hadean  wastes  that  Milton  painted.  The  men  are  for 
the  most  part  gay  and  uncomplaining,  though  the  food  is 
something  that  surprises  Northern  digestion.  If  I  could 
send  you  a  heap  of  the  wonderful  blossoms  that  fill  the 
air  with  their  odors,  you  would  dream  of  Arcady  for  a 
year.  To-day  we  came  to  a  leafy  pinnacle  in  the  winding 
road ;  we  stood  on  the  very  rock  where  Cortez  received  the 
emissaries  of  Montezuma. 

"  There  is  a  cross  and  column  with  an  inscription  glori 
fying  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  never  a  word  of  the  re- 


AN  ARMY    WITH  BANNERS.  361 

morseless  hero  who  added  this  country  to  the  Spanish 
crown.  We  are  a  hundred  miles  from  Mexico  ;  but  the 
signal-men  declared  that,  through  the  transparent  air,  the 
great  plateau  on  which  the  city  stands  was  discernible.  I 
took  the  glass,  but  I  couldn't  see  it !  The  eye  needs 
training  for  this  just  as  other  faculties  do  for  other  work. 
We  could  see  Santa  Anna's  cavalry  glittering  in  the  distant 
sunlight  like  a  moving  forest  of  color.  We  expect  to  have 
a  great  battle  shortly,  as  we  shall  be  near  the  city  within 
three  days.  The  soldiers  are  confident.  They  adore  Gen 
eral  Scott,  who  is  the  most  magnificent  cavalier  ever  seen 
in  saddle.  When  he  rides  along  the  ranks,  however  tired 
the  soldiers  may  be,  they  leap  up  and  salute  him  with 
joyful  shouts.  He  has  done  wonders  with  this  army. 

"  He  has,  all  told,  not  over  ten  thousand  effective  troops, 
while  Santa  Anna  has  forty  thousand.  But  Scott  manages 
so  skillfully  that  when  we  come  before  the  intrenched  po 
sitions,  prepared  by  the  Mexicans,  only  a  thin  wall  of  men 
is  kept  before  the  fortifications,  while  others  who  have 
been  sent  by  the  flank — a  way  roundabout — come  behind 
the  Mexicans,  and  the  fortifications  are  of  no  use.  We 
are  kept  so  constantly  moving  that  the  time  doesn't  hang 
heavy  on  our  hands  now  as  it  did  when  we  were  in  camp. 
There  is  not  a  watch  in  the  regiment  outside  of  the  general 
and  staff  officers.  So  the  days  come  and  go,  and  we  only 
guess  from  the  sun  the  hours  as  they  fly  past,  like  the 
blurred  landscape  from  a  swift  packet.  I  couldn't  keep 
track  of  the  days  of  the  month  or  the  month  itself,  if  it 
were  not  for  an  occasional  general  order. 

"  It  is  a  week  since  I  wrote  the  foregoing.  Since  then 
we  have  fought  three  severe  battles  at  the  time-worn 
towns  of  Contreras,  San  Antonio,  and  Churubusco. 
These  were  really  towns,  and  the  Mexicans  fought  val 
iantly  to  keep  us  out  of  them.  Captain  Darcy  distin- 


362  THE  ALIENS. 

guished  himself,  and  has  been  promoted  to  a  majority. 
His  company  waited  upon  him  the  day  after  the  battle 
and  congratulated  him  on  his  bravery  and  good  fortune. 
There  is  an  armistice  now  for  two  weeks,  and  the  rumor  is 
loud  that  peace  has  been  proposed.  But  our  generals 
don't  seem  to  expect  it,  for  we  are  cutting  through  rocks 
and  building  roads  for  the  artillery  by  day  and  night. 
"  Perhaps  you  will  rejoice  to  know  that  I  was  made  lieu 
tenant  in  the  Warchester  company  on  the  recommendation 
of  all  my  brother  non-commissioned  officers — for  doing 
well  in  the  night  fights,  and  saving  the  flag  when  a  squad 
ron  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  had  cut  us  off.  Darcy  came 
to  my  tent  to  congratulate  me,  and  the  kind  fellow  insisted 
on  giving  me  his  sword,  as  he  had  a  second.  Chapultepec 
(the  hill  of  locusts)  used  to  be  the  vice-regal  residence  of 
the  Spanish  governors.  It  is  on  the  top  of  a  mighty  hill, 
and  from  a  distance  the  walls  seem  part  of  the  clouds.  It 
was  defended  bravely.  When  we  got  in  I  saw  some  of 
the  soldiers.  They  were  most  of  them  young  men,  the 
flower  of  the  Mexican  race,  and  cadets  of  the  National 
Military  School — the  Mexican  West  Point.  We  have 
already  thirty-seven  hundred  prisoners,  thirteen  generals, 
and  three  statesmen  who  have  been  presidents  of  the 
Republic.  Our  men  have  singled  out  their  favorites 
among  the  officers  who  lead  us.  Most  of  them  are  very 
young  men,  and,  though  they  come  from  West  Point,  they 
are  not  at  all  martinetish.  Our  great  engineer  is  a  young 
man  with  sandy  hair  and  brown  eyes,  who  resembles 
Darcy,  but  is  not  so  tall,  nor  so  graceful — Captain  George 
McClellan.  It  was  he  who  cut  a  road  through  a  valley 
of  rocks  that  Santa  Anna  left  unguarded  as  so  inaccessi 
ble  that  no  army  could  master  it.  If  we  should  ever  have 
another  war,  the  men  prophesy  great  things  for  a  dashing 
young  staff  officer  who  seems  to  glory  in  danger — '  Phil ' 


AN  ARMY    WITH  BANNERS.  363 

Kearney — a  bright  fellow  who  is  always  riding  out  among 
the  enemy.  At  Molino  del  Rey — the  King's  Mill — Major 
Sumner,  with  a  single  regiment  of  cavalry,  fought  an  entire 
army  in  order  to  give  General  Scott  time  to  concentrate 
a  large  force  on  the  enemy's  main  line.  But,  dear  me, 
these  details  can't  interest  you,  only  as  in  some  degree 
part  of  the  life  I  am  living.  Old  soldiers  tell  me  that  no 
war  ever  offered  the  rank  and  file  such  opportunities  for 
seeing  and  learning.  The  country  is  so  broken  up  that 
often  a  division  or  brigade  taking  part  in  an  action  can 
see  the  whole  combat,  just  as  one  might  sit  in  a  Roman 
amphitheatre  and  watch  all  the  combatants  in  the  arena. 
These  last  fights  have  compelled  the  evacuation  of  the 
City  of  Mexico,  and  we  are  to  march  in  to-morrow.  This 
letter  leaves  by  courier,  and  I  don't  know  when  another 
will  set  out." 

With  that  picturesque  movement  which  threw  the  in 
trepid  hosts  of  Scott  from  the  sea-base  of  Vera  Cruz  to 
the  crater-like  plateaus  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  this  history 
has  nothing  to  do  ;  but  Denny's  personal  narrative  to 
Dilly  made  but  passing  mention  of  an  episode  which  bore 
directly  and  sinisterly  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  Aliens. 
Early  in  August  the  advance  columns  came  to  a  land 
where  the  caprices  of  Nature  defied  all  ordinary  means  of 
advance.  The  worn  granite  of  the  mountains  seemed  to 
have  been,  in  a  moment  of  liquid  fusion,  poured  down  in 
vast  fluxions  over  the  sandy  plains,  where,  suddenly  cool 
ing,  the  mass  was  left  in  broad  flanges  of  jagged  needle- 
like  cones,  impassable  crevices,  defiles  and  spurs,  that 
made  an  impenetrable  wall  to  the  advance  of  footmen  as 
well  as  horses  and  artillery.  Brought  to  a  halt  in  this 
lava  land,  the  staff  decided  that  the  most  accessible 
straight  line  must  be  followed,  and  a  road  cut  through  the 
iron  wall.  A  company  of  volunteers  was  called  for  ;  they 


364  THE  ALIENS. 

were  not  tardy  in  responding.  Major  Darcy  was  second 
in  command,  and  under  a  burning  sun  they  set  out  to 
explore  a  line  of  march  that  the  army  might  follow.  The 
little  band  pushed  on,  creating  the  road  for  the  legions. 

They  were  kept  on  the  quivivc  day  and  night  by  the 
swarming  arrieros  of  the  enemy,  but  at  the  end  of  a  week's 
march,  turned  about  to  meet  the  main  army  with  a  cir 
cuitous  but  feasible  line  of  march  secured.  A  day's  tramp 
from  the  outposts,  Major  Darcy  was  left  with  a  com 
pany  of  fifty  men  to  hold  a  narrow  defile,  vital  to  the 
security  of  the  troops.  It  was  a  wildly  magnificent  gap, 
flanked  by  precipitous  cliffs,  on  which  the  chaparral 
glistened  like  petrified  waves  of  a  summer  sea.  The  little 
camp  was  well  intrenched,  patrols  set,  and  a  vigilant  watch 
kept. 

The  alert  guerrillas  watched  the  departure  of  half  of 
the  company,  and  kept  up  an  incessant  fire  on  the  little 
picket,  from  the  craggy  sides  of  the  frowning  rocks. 
During  the  night  this  fire  increased,  and  one  or  two  men 
were  struck  in  their  tents.  Darcy  thought  it  wiser  to  dis 
lodge  these  adventurous  spirits,  and  sent  out  a  squad  to 
rout  them.  This  seemed  to  have  been  the  very  end  they 
were  manoeuvring  for.  So  soon  as  the  little  force  had 
become  involved  in  the  rocks,  a  preconcerted  signal 
sounded  on  all  sides,  and  the  canon  was  alive  with  Mexi 
cans.  The  Americans  were  drawn  behind  the  rocky  walls, 
thrown  up  from  the  loose  stones  and  bowlders,  and  fought 
with  desperation.  But  toward  night  their  ammunition  gave 
out.  The  moon  rose  and  filled  the  cavern-like  gap  with 
floods  of  clear,  transparent  light,  revealing  the  little  fort 
and  its  resolute  defenders  almost  as  clearly  as  sunshine. 

The  enemy,  secreted  in  the  rocks,  were  invisible,  save 
when  the  flashes  of  their  carbines  revealed  their  where 
abouts.  The  last  shot  was  fired,  and  Darcy  ordered 


AN  ARMY    WITH  BANNERS,  365 

bayonets.  If  they  could  hold  out  a  few  hours,  rescue 
would  be  at  hand.  He  had  sent  messengers  to  warn  the 
van-guard.  As  the  sun  rose,  shots  could  be  heard  far  to 
the  rear,  and  the  Americans  grasped  their  guns  with  re 
newed  determination.  But  the  sounds  of  relief  had  in 
spired  the  enemy  also.  Closing  in  from  all  sides,  they 
swarmed  over  the  rocky  breastwork,  and  in  a  few  mo 
ments,  by  mere  force  of  numbers,  the  garrison  was  over 
come.  The  killed  and  wounded  were  left  in  the  bloody 
shambles,  stripped  and  pillaged,  the  rest  were  tied  in  pairs 
and  marched  off  hurriedly  into  the  gloomy  fastnesses  of  the 
hills. 

An  hour  later  the  cavalry  advance  of  the  army  was 
at  the  spot.  Several  of  the  wounded  were  able  to  tell  the 
story,  and  the  cavalry  hastened  on  with  but  faint  hopes  of 
catching  the  marauders.  Denny  was  on  duty  at  the  head 
quarters  of  the  advance  brigade,  and  heard  the  news 
within  a  few  hours.  He  knew  of  Darcy's  presence  in  the 
little  post,  and  set  out  at  once  to  question  the  survivors. 
All  that  they  could  tell  was  that  Warchester  had  fought 
with  a  musket,  that  he  had  been  struck  on  the  head  just 
before  the  "  Greasers  "  had  swarmed  in,  and  that  he  had 
been  carried  off.  Denny  readily  obtained  permission  for 
a  day's  scouting  and  hastened  to  the  fatal  fort.  The 
Mexicans  had  thrown  some  of  their  own  garments  on  the 
ground,  and  put  on  those  pillaged  from  the  Americans. 
Covering  himself  in  a  suit  of  the  enemy's,  Denny  pushed 
into  the  hills  in  the  direction  Darcy's  captors  were  said  to 
have  taken.  He  followed  the  trail  easily  enough,  for  there 
were  red  spots  of  blood  on  the  rocks  for  a  long  distance, 
and  from  time  to  time  other  signs  of  a  halt.  It  was  quite 
dark  when,  despairing  of  coming  upon  the  captors,  Denny 
sat  down  on  a  moss-covered  rock,  and  began  to  consider 
the  wisdom  of  going  further  on  his  wild  chase.  If  he  could 


366  THE  ALIENS. 

get  track  of  the  main  body,  and  find  the  disposition  made  of 
the  prisoners,  he  would  be  able  to  arrange  for  an  exchange. 
In  many  cases  the  Mexicans  killed  prisoners  outright,  but 
swift  retaliation  on  the  part  of  General  Scott  had  to  some 
extent  stopped  that  practice.  Prisoners  were,  however, 
still  maltreated  in  a  manner  that  made  death  preferable, 
and  it  was  the  hideous  prospect  of  the  gently  nurtured 
Darcy  undergoing  harsh  calamities  of  this  sort  that  moved 
Denny  to  seek  him  and  aid  him.  If  he  were  wounded,  he 
would  need  a  friendly  hand. 

The  wild  hill-sides  were  still,  as  Nature  alone  can 
be  at  intervals.  Even  the  insects  were  at  rest,  and  the 
desolation  of  his  situation  fell  upon  the  lad  for  the  first 
time.  The  hateful  crackling  shots,  that  had  made  part  of 
the  last  three  months'  noises,  would  now  have  fallen  on  his 
ears  as  a  friendly  sound.  Presently,  in  the  stillness,  the 
gentle  trickle  of  water,  tumbling  over  rocks  near  him,  drew 
his  attention.  He  had  some  hard  biscuits  with  him,  and, 
soaking  one  in  the  little  stream,  began  to  eat.  As  he  sat 
there,  his  eye,  wandering  over  the  jagged  outline  of  the 
rocks,  and  growing  accustomed  to  the  dim  light,  caught 
a  peculiar  change  in  the  shadows  just  above  and  in  front 
of  him.  The  whole  face  of  the  rock  seemed  to  rise  and 
melt  in  the  clouds.  What  could  it  be  ?  He  crept  up 
toward  the  singular  apparition,  and  in  a  few  moments 
heard  voices.  He  fell  on  his  hands  and  knees,  and  crawled 
toward  the  sound.  It  took  him  perhaps  twenty  minutes 
to  reach  the  place  whence  the  voices  sounded,  and  then 
he  discovered  that  it  was  a  column  of  smoke  rising  in  the 
air  that  had  confused  him.  He  was  on  a  line  with  and 
looking  over  a  low  wall  of  jagged  rocks  upon  a  level  pla 
teau,  standing  out  like  a  platform  from  the  mountain  side. 

The  fires  were  made  of  dry  twigs,  and  over  them  hung 
camp-kettles — the  very  same  that  had  formed  part  of  the 


AN  ARMY    WITH  BANNERS.  367 

accouterment  of  the  American  camp.  A  score  of  figures, 
clad  in  American  uniforms,  were  grouped  about  at  a  dis 
tance  from  the  low  fire.  A  faint  hum  of  sound,  more  like 
singing  than  conversation,  fell  on  Denny's  ear.  It  was  the 
soft  patois  of  the  Spanish  tongue,  now  and  then  distin 
guishable  as  some  one  demanded  hearing  for  his  contribu 
tion  to  the  discussion.  Another  group,  at  some  distance 
from  the  Mexicans  and  nearer  the  edge  of  the  plateau,  ar 
rested  Denny's  attention.  These  were  apparently  naked 
men  huddled  together,  and  guarded  by  two  tall  fellows 
with  drawn  sabers  and  carbines  slung  over  their  shoulders. 
From  his  point  of  observation  Denny  was  farthest  removed 
from  these — prisoners,  he  concluded.  Retreating  softly 
the  same  way  he  came,  Denny  made  a  circuit  wide  enough 
to  avoid  attracting  the  attention  of  the  guard  by  any  un 
timely  misstep  ;  and,  when  he  thought  himself  abreast  of 
the  spot  near  the  prisoners,  he  again  crawled  up  the  rocks. 

Yes,  they  were  the  prisoners.  He  could  even  distin 
guish  Darcy,  as  the  flame  under  the  kettles  flared  up  now 
and  then,  and  his  heart  leaped  with  joy.  Darcy  was  alive, 
suffering  indignity,  but  alive.  How  best  secure  his  safety 
now  ?  The  advance  guard  was  miles  away  in  another  di 
rection.  To  go  back  for  a  rescue  would  perhaps  lose  all, 
for  the  band  would  be  en  route  before  the  soldiers  could 
reach  this  spot,  difficult  of  access,  and  easily  defensible 
against  a  regiment  for  hours.  No,  Darcy  must  be  snatched 
from  peril  now,  at  any  risk. 

Presently  the  steaming  pots  were  lifted  from  the  long 
poles,  and  the  savory  contents  dished  out.  When  the 
captors  had  finished,  the  cooks  ladled  out  a  supply  which 
was  handed  the  prisoners.  All,  save  Darcy,  ate  greedily. 
He  drank  from  a  large  tin  cup  some  steaming  beverage 
which  Denny  couldn't  guess,  as  the  Mexicans  had  no  cof 
fee.  He  could  see  that  the  prisoners  were  tied  leg  to  leg, 


368  THE  ALIENS. 

but  their  arms  were  free.  The  night  was  very  sultry,  and 
presently,  when  the  supper  was  over,  each  guerrilla  betook 
himself  to  a  blanket  spread  on  the  ground,  and  the  camp 
was  silent. 

Four  guards  kept  a  perfunctory  watch,  for  the  place 
itself  was  a  natural  defense.  Toward  midnight  the  moon 
passed  behind  a  high  peak  of  the  rocks,  and  left  the  pla 
teau  in  deep  shadow.  Now  was  Denny's  opportunity. 
Climbing  to  the  edge  of  the  plateau,  with  his  clothes  in  a 
bundle,  he  crawled  over  the  intervening  ground,  which  was 
fortunately  covered  by  deep  herbage,  until  he  was  among 
the  prisoners.  They  were  all  sleeping  soundly.  The 
guards  were  seated  on  the  ground  at  some  distance  from 
them,  and,  had  they  been  alert,  they  could  not  have  dis 
tinguished  Denny  from  the  rest.  Darcy  was  stretched  on 
a  blanket  nearest  the  guard.  To  reach  him,  Denny  must 
crawl  over  his  sleeping  comrades,  sprawling  in  a  confused 
huddle.  If  he  awaked  them,  the  guard  would  be  aroused, 
and  he  held  his  breath  as  this  perilous  manoeuvre  was  exe 
cuted.  He  touched  Darcy  when  he  reached  him,  but  the 
young  man  did  not  stir.  Then,  fastening  his  lips  to  the 
sleeper's  ear,  he  breathed,  "  Darcy,  it's  Denny." 

"  Eh  ?     What  ?  " 

Denny's  blood  congealed  as  Darcy  was  startled  into 
speaking  aloud.  The  guard  rose  and  came  toward  them, 
and  Denny,  now  breathless  and  trembling  with  dread, 
crouched  down  among  the  sleepers.  The  guard  came  a 
few  steps  and  asked  : 

"  QuJ  tie  tie  ustedl     Tiene  us  ted  algo  ?  " 

Receiving  no  response,  he  scrutinized  the  group,  and 
went  back  muttering  that  the  Americans  were  dreaming 
of  their  sweethearts.  The  assurance  gave  Denny  new 
courage.  Darcy  was  now  awake  and  alert.  Denny  whis 
pered  : 


AN  ARMY    WITH  BANNERS.  369 

"  Put  on  these  clothes,  then  crawl  straight  backward  to 
the  edge  of  the  plateau,  push  straight  before  you,  and  by 
daylight  you  will  be  somewhere  near  our  outposts.  You 
can  then  send  a  party  to  rescue  us.  But,  in  any  event, 
you  will  be  safe." 

"  Ah  !  Denny,  is  it  you  ?     How  did  you  get  here  ? " 

"  Never  mind  me ;  you  have  but  a  short  time.    Hurry  !  " 

"  I  could  never  stand  the  journey,  Denny  ;  my  head  is 
badly  cut,  and  I  can  scarcely  see.  I  couldn't  go  a  mile  if 
I  were  given  free  passport.  No,  it  is  useless.  Leave  me 
here.  My  misery  will  soon  be  ended  ;  and  it  is  better  that 
it  should  be  so,  as  you  will  say  yourself  some  day." 

"  In  God's  name,  Mr.  Darcy,  don't  talk  like  this  !  Be 
sides,  I  shall  be  considered  a  deserter,  if  you  don't  go  back 
to  speak  for  me,  for  I  had  only  permission  to  be  gone  until 
sunset." 

"  Good  God,  Denny  !  must  I  always  be  the  curse  of 
you  and  yours  ?  What  devil  put  it  into  your  head  to  come 
to  me  ?  I  am  quite  content  to  die  and  be  forgot." 

"  Don't  you  see,  Mr.  Darcy,  this  is  wasting  time  !  " 
Denny  thought  that  the  young  man's  wounds,  and  the 
frightful  march  over  the  rocks,  had  affected  his  brain. 
"I  had  intended  to  take  your  place  here,  so  that  you 
might  not  be  missed ;  but  it  is  as  you  say — you  could  not 
hold  out  alone,  nor  find  the  way.  Follow  me,  and  we  will 
go  together." 

"  Since  I  have  got  you  into  this  scrape,  I  will  do  as 
you  say;  but  when  the  time  comes,  I  want  you  to  remem 
ber  that  I  was  resigned  to  my  fortunes,  and  that  I  did  not 
fear  the  death  that  appalled  the  others  !  " 

He  followed  exactly  Denny's  sinuous  tracks  as  he 
crawled  backward,  keeping  his  eyes  on  the  guard.  In  a 
few  minutes  they  were  both  over  the  edge  of  the  plateau, 
and  among  the  broken  rocks  and  thick  bushes.  Here 


370  THE  ALIENS. 

Denny  made  a  division  of  the  clothing,  Darcy  taking  the 
trousers  and  jacket,  while  Denny  -wrapped  the  blanket 
around  himself.  He  led  the  way  as  well  as  he  could  re 
member  over  the  same  ground  that  he  had  come.  By 
daylight  they  were  far  from  the  plateau,  with  shining  walls 
of  lava  behind  them,  and  dense  thickets  of  tropic  pines, 
palms,  and  cactus  on  all  sides.  They  made  but  slow  prog 
ress,  as  Darcy's  wound  broke  out  afresh,  and  it  required 
all  Denny's  skill  to  invent  effective  means  to  stanch  the 
blood.  From  the  ready  ingredients  of  vegetable  nature  he 
did,  however,  succeed  in  the  end,  but  there  was  a  narcotic 
as  well  as  coagulative  quality  in  the  herbs,  and  the  young 
man  slept  for  hours,  watched  by  the  agitated  physician. 
It  was  night  again  when  they  resumed  their  journey,  di 
rected  by  the  moon.  Denny  had  to  carry  his  friend  over 
some  of  the  rougher  places,  and  when,  on  the  second  day, 
they  heard  the  booming  of  cannon,  both  were  at  the  end 
of  endurance.  By  the  greatest  good  fortune  another  of 
General  Scott's  wide  flanking  operations  was  going  on, 
and,  as  the  two  wanderers,  halting  in  despair  on  the  brow 
of  a  hill,  gave  up  the  attempt  to  push  farther,  bands  of 
horsemen  passed  near  and  beneath  them,  and,  though 
their  voices  were  too  weak  to  attract  attention,  a  white 
handkerchief  swung  on  a  stick  was  seen,  and  an  hour  later 
they  were  taken  among  friends. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE    END    OF    THE    DREAM. 

NORAH'S  new  life  filled  Marcus  Dunn  with  a  sweet, 
solemn,  almost  paternal  repose.     All  trace  of  her  tempo- 


THE  END  OF   THE  DREAM. 


371 


rary  alienation  had  passed  away.  The  tranquil  domestici 
ty  of  the  home  in  which  she  found  herself  gave  her  mind 
a  new  direction.  Larry  was  a  constant  wonder  and  de 
light.  He  was  so  strong,  so  cheery  and  devoted,  that  she 
could  hardly  realize  that  they  had  been  sundered  since 
childhood.  When  Marcus  came  to  the  cottage  of  an  even 
ing,  Larry  betook  himself  to  his  tool-house,  where  he  sur 
prised  Norah  by  the  fashioning  of  all  manner  of  fantastic 
household  conceits.  Indeed,  it  was  in  this  pleasant  labo 
ratory  that  Marcus  often  found  the  girl  singing  in  a  low 
voice,  while  Larry  turned  his  lathe  or  fabricated  the  bric- 
a-brac  that  adorned  the  pretty  chambers.  Denny's  room 
had  been  equipped  with  an  elaborate  writing-desk,  with 
cunning  drawers  running  down  each  side,  and  an  over 
hanging  cabinet  in  which  all  the  legal  memoranda  of  a 
life-time  might  be  stored.  Nor  was  Marcus  forgotten. 
From  the  purple  cherry  on  the  Marbury  hills,  Larry's  cun 
ning  had  fashioned  the  lawyer  a  desk  as  beautiful  as 
Denny's,  with  a  little  silver  plate  recording  it  as  the  gift  of 
Norah  and  Larry  Boyne.  For  this  rare  object  Norah  had 
worked  a  cover  of  quaint  colors  and  complicated  pattern, 
such  as  delighted  the  fancy  and  engaged  the  minds  and 
hands  of  the  women  of  those  days. 

Sometimes  Dilly  came  and  read  Denny's  letters,  but 
this  was  rare,  for  her  school-days  were  done,  and  she  had 
gone  back  to  Marbury.  The  correspondence  with  Denny 
was  known  only  to  her  mother,  and,  as  a  consequence,  she 
was  obliged  to  come  to  the  cottage  for  her  letters.  The 
memory  of  Marcus's  wooing  had  gone  from  Norah's  mind, 
when  she  came  back  to  her  normal  state,  and  he  dared 
not  recur  to  the  subject  until  time  enough  had  elapsed  to 
assure  him  that  she  was  capable  of  understanding  herself 
and  him.  So  the  weeks  and  months  passed.  It  was  Au 
gust.  Denny  and  Darcy  had  gone  in  May,  and  their  first 


372 


THE  ALIENS. 


letters  had  only  begun  to  come.  Norah  listened  wistfully 
as  Dilly  read  Denny's  meager  allusions  to  Darcy — and 
such  emotion  as  Norah  showed,  Dilly  thought  naturally 
enough  was  for  the  absent  brother.  But  Marcus,  observ 
ing  her  keenly  on  such  occasions,  was  tortured  by  a  sus 
picion  that  became  a  certainty  when  one  day,  happening 
on  the  river  with  the  small  Manly,  that  indiscreet  confi 
dant  made  casual  allusion  to  Darcy's  visit  at  the  cottage, 
and  Norah's  rendezvous  at  the  water-pavilion. 

If  Norah  were  to  be  spared  cruel  heart-ache,  Marcus 
made  up  his  mind  that  it  were  better  to  have  Darcy's  en 
gagement  with  Agnes  publicly  announced,  in  order  that 
any  secret  hopes  Norah  might  still  cherish  would  be  defi 
nitely  put  to  flight.  Madame  Warchester  was  the  half-sister 
of  Marcus's  mother.  The  two  families  had  not  been  on  the 
best  of  terms,  as  the  union  of  a  Vane  with  a  Dunn  had 
been  looked  upon  as  a  great  stepping  down  for  a  daugh 
ter  of  that  princely  brood.  Orphaned  early,  Marcus  had 
pushed  his  own  career,  with  but  small  concern  for  the 
wishes  of  his  dominating  kinswoman.  But  he  was  on  good 
terms  in  the  great  house,  and  was  always  expected  on  occa 
sions  of  state.  He  resolved  to  speak  to  "  Aunt  Elizabeth  " 
about  Darcy's  attachment  for  Norah,  and  his  fear  that  the 
thoughtless  boy  was  still  encouraging  the  poor  child  to 
look  forward  to  what  could  never  be.  Mrs.  Warchester 
had  been  made  very  miserable  by  her  son's  conduct.  He 
had  quit  the  city  with  the  coldest  adieux  to  Agnes,  and 
since  his  departure  had  never  written  her  a  line.  When 
Marcus,  after  an  embarrassing  preliminary  talk,  finally 
said  : 

"  Aunt  Betty,  I  must  say  something  to  you  that  I  fear 
will  pain  you  very  much,  but  I  say  it  in  order  that  you 
may  be  saved  a  greater  pain — " 

As  Marcus  paused,  the  great  lady  suspended  the  rock- 


THE  END   OF   THE  DREAM.  373 

ing  motion  of  her  chair,  and  looked  up  eagerly  from  the 
work  she  had  been  busying  her  hands  with. 

"  Why,  Mark,  what  do  you  mean  ?  what  can  it  be  ? 
You  have  not  been  getting  into  any  imprudent  entangle 
ment — you — ?" 

The  embassador  smiled.  His  aunt's  foibles  were  well 
known  to  him,  but  he  couldn't  resist  a  small  feeling  of 
malice,  in  all  his  distress,  as  the  self-contained  arrogance 
of  his  kinswoman's  nature  asserted  itself.  Tainting  the 
Warchester  blood,  lowering  the  banner  of  its  pretense — 
these  were  the  evils  in  her  shallow  sphere  of  action  that 
seemed  to  her  the  most  direful,  the  most  unendurable. 

"  Oh,  Aunt  Betty,  as  for  me,  when  I  get  ready  to  give 
myself  up,  I  shall  not  involve  any  of  you.  I  shall  drop 
out  of  the  ken  of  prying  kin.  No,  the  apprehension  I 
have  is  for  Darcy."  She  started,  as  a  towering  swan  en 
countering  a  squawking  duckling  might.  "  I  think  you 
knew  something  of  Darcy's  romantic  attachment  for  that 
pretty  Norah,  Dr.  Marbury's  ward  ? "  She  leaned  back,  as 
Elizabeth  may  have  thrown  her  haughty  shoulders  back 
when  my  Lord  Cecil  gently  began  to  insinuate  the  story  of 
my  Lord  Essex's  misbehaving.  She  listened  as  a  sovereign 
lady  might,  bound  to  give  ear  to  whatsoever  concerned  her 
subjects,  but  personally  incredulous  that  eyes  which  had 
rested  on  royalty  could  wander  to  vulgar  clay.  She 
waved  him  to  go  on,  with  a  dry,  disdainful  gesture,  very 
significant  of  what  he  must  be  prepared  to  endure,  should 
he  fail  to  make  his  impeachment  good.  Marcus  con 
tinued  :  "  Something  of  Darcy's  unfortunate  weakness 
you  already  know.  It  was,  I  think,  your  own  interven 
tion  in  the  affair  that  turned  Norah's  brain  last  year  !  " 

"  Surely,  Mark,  my  son  has  not  seen,  or  had  to  do  with 
this  person,  since  that  wretched  incident  ?" 

"  Yes,  and  I  don't  know  that  he  should  be  condemned 


374  THE  ALIENS. 

for  that,  for  it  was  the  meeting  him  that  restored  the  poor 
girl's  lost  intellect,  and — " 

"She  was  very  well  without  her  intellect,  I  think. 
Darcy  should  have  been  kept  from  her  sight." 

"  Surely,  Aunt  Betty,  you  would  not  condemn  the  poor 
girl  for  the  accidental  meeting,  nor  for  the  revulsion  which 
broke  the  bondage  in  which  her  wits  were  held  ? " 

"  I  don't  see  that  people  of  that  class  need  intellects. 
I  thought  her  very  well  as  she  was ;  but  what  is  the  end  of 
the  story?  There  is  something  else,  isn't  there?  " 

A  little  angered,  Marcus,  all  pity  for  the  motherless 
girl,  continued,  mercilessly  :  "  Yes,  there  is  something  else. 
Norah,  wandering  on  the  Holly  Hills,  again  met  Darcy — 
Agnes  was  with  him.  She  seemed  to  have  no  memory  of 
the  sad  scene  in  this  house,  and  began  to  talk  to  him  as  they 
had  talked  before  the  shock.  Darcy  left  her  weaving  gar 
lands  by  the  lily  brook.  He  wandered  back  an  hour  later, 
and  she  was  still  there.  He  felt  pity  for  her  state,  for  the 
evening  was  fallen,  and  the  air  very  chill.  He  led  her 
home,  and  her  joy  was  so  evident  that  he  remained  a  time. 
Thereafter  he  returned  day  after  day,  and  the  poor  brain, 
picking  up  the  links  of  memory  under  the  charm  of  his 
presence,  failed  to  seize  the  cause  of  its  overthrow.  I 
have  found  out,  quite  by  accident,  that  Darcy  was  with 
Norah  daily;  that  her  recovered  mind  retains  no  memory 
of  the  cause  that  brought  on  the  shock,  and  I  fear  that 
Darcy,  in  his  madness  and  weakness,  has  gone,  leaving  the 
poor  girl  confident  of  his  love  and  his  return." 

Still  maintaining  an  almost  judicial  visage,  and  the 
manner  of  incredulity  with  which  the  conversation  began, 
madam  plied  the  envoy  with  questions  that  gave  her  the 
situation  from  points  of  view  that  Marcus  had  sedulously 
screened.  Her  steely  gray  eyes  brightened  as  the  secret 
of  Marcus's  interest  stood  revealed  to  her,  but  she  affably 


THE  END  OF  THE  DREAM.  375 

ignored  the  discovery,  and  pushed  the  subject  to  its  last 
recesses.  During  the  long  narrative,  that  was  bitter  to 
her  as  hyssop,  for  it  revealed  a  taint  in  the  family  blood 
that  was  death  to  her  pride,  she  sat  with  a  steady — at 
times  resentful — eye  on  the  embarrassed  envoy.  When 
he  told,  with  sympathetic  tenderness,  the  idyl  of  the 
sylvan  courtship,  the  dark  gulf  of  insanity,  the  reappear 
ance  of  Darcy,  and  the  dawn  of  recovered  reason,  she 
smiled  a  stern  smile  of  tolerant,  contemptuous  scorn.  As 
the  story  came  to  an  end,  Mrs.  Warchester's  face  became 
quite  rigid.  She  knew  that  Marcus  was  the  most  cautious 
and  unimpressionable  of  men.  She  knew  that  he  would 
never  have  spoken  if  there  had  not  been  justification. 

She  sat  silent  a  long  time,  unmoved  by  this  new 
menace.  She  trusted  her  son  so  implicitly  ;  deceit  in 
him  she  couldn't  understand  ;  but  was  it  deceit  ?  Hadn't 
he  shown  conspicuously  his  indifference  to  Agnes  ? 
Hadn't  he,  by  his  hasty  departure,  prevented  all  dis 
cussion  of  the  marriage?  Were  not  his  brief  letters 
corroborative  testimony  of  Marcus's  averring  that  the 
old  spell  was  upon  him,  that  the  old  danger  confronted 
the  fortunes  of  the  family  ! 

"  Let  me  think  the  matter  over,  Mark ;  I  am  so 
startled,  so  shocked,  that  I  can  not  reflect  now.  Come 
over  to-morrow — I  shall  want  your  advice." 

When  Marcus  had  gone,  the  hard  look  quit  her  face. 
She  fled  to  her  chamber,  and  the  cold  light  melted  from 
her  eyes.  She  took  a  letter-packet  from  the  drawer  of  the 
tall  mahogany  dresser,  and,  seating  herself  by  the  open 
window,  untied  the  blue  ribbon  that  held  it.  There  were 
a  few  yellow  sheets — the  ink  faded  ;  there  were  others 
where  the  ink  was  clear  and  fresh ;  at  the  bottom  there 
was  an  ivory  miniature  of  a  lovely  boy,  blue-eyed  and 
frank,  with  tangled  masses  of  yellow  curls  covering  a 


376  THE  ALIENS. 

shapely  brow.  Tears  came  to  her  eyes  as  she  sat  with 
those  bright  eyes  laughing  up  into  her  own.  She  pressed 
the  miniature  to  her  lips,  and  then  she  began  at  the  yellow 
sheets  and  read.  They  were  Darcy's  letters  from  school. 
Boyish  prattle  of  dogs  and  toys  and  prizes  and  small  heart 
burnings.  Then  came  the  West  Point  epistles,  breathing 
high  purpose  and  renown.  Then  the  brief  lines  from 
Mexico.  These  were  cold,  uncharacteristic,  almost  per 
functory.  She  read  them  now  with  a  key  that  translated 
the  unspoken  thought.  She  sighed  wearily  as  each  gave 
confirmation  to  Marcus's  wretched  surmises.  Yes,  Darcy 
— her  first-born,  the  head  of  the  house — was  abdicating. 
He  was  preparing  for  that  recreancy  which  would  be  her 
humiliation  and  shame. 

What  had  she  done  that  this  cross  should  come  to  her.  ? 
There  was  another  thought  more  poignant.  Colonel 
Warchester  had  involved  himself  perilously  in  the  enter 
prises  of  Lord  Poultney  and  Myrickson.  His  estate  was 
deeply  mortgaged.  Darcy's  union  with  Agnes  had  been 
looked  forward  to  as  a  means  of  rescue.  If  that  were  not 
carried  out,  the  Warchesters  would  be  painfully  crippled, 
perhaps  forced  to  surrender  the  estate.  The  war  had 
disturbed  values  and  suspended  the  business  of  the  bank. 
For  a  time  it  had  been  a  question  whether  it  could  keep 
its  doors  open.  The  Vanes  had  come  forward  generous 
ly  and  given  Colonel  Warchester  the  use  of  their  name — 
but  that  was  only  a  temporary  reprieve.  She  knew  all  this> 
and  dwelt  upon  it  more  seriously  than  the  easy-natured 
husband,  whose  mind  was  serene  so  long  as  he  could  en 
joy  his  rubber  of  whist  and  the  good  cheer  of  life. 

There  was  only  one  thing  to  be  done.  She  must 
write  to  Darcy — write  at  once — and  recall  him  to  his 
senses.  She  could  not  believe  that  he  seriously  meant 
to  break  his  plight  to  Agnes.  He  was  a  boy  and  had 


THE  END  OF   THE  DREAM.  377 

been  bewildered  by  this  lightly  won  love.  She  wrote  in  a 
strain  of  tender  affection  and  confidence — sympathizing 
in  his  chivalrous  loyalty  to  the  unfortunate  girl,  but  re 
minding  him  of  the  hearts  that  his  obstinacy  would  break, 
if  he  persisted  in  dallying  with  his  duty.  She  hinted 
vaguely  at  the  family  entanglements,  the  ruin  of  Milly's 
prospects,  and  the  family's  loss  of  caste  and  future,  if  the 
heir  of  the  house  refused  to  maintain  its  interests.  It  was 
a  masterful  piece  of  maternal  pleading — all  the  more  elo 
quent  that  it  admitted  the  young  man's  blamelessness,  with 
out  reproaching  Norah,  or  impeaching  her  ingenuousness. 

The  letter  was  dispatched  that  night,  and  the  miser 
able  mother  resigned  herself  impatiently  to  the  long  delay 
before  she  could  get  her  boy's  answer.  In  the  mean  while 
she  artfully  pushed  Agnes  into  writing  her  indifferent  lover, 
representing  his  coldness  as  the  natural  waywardness  of 
spoiled  boys,  immersed  in  the  excitement  of  war.  She  in 
duced  Colonel  Warchester  to  write,  exposing  his  embarrass 
ments  and  the  vital  urgency  of  Darcy's  immediate  mar 
riage.  When  all  this  was  set  in  force,  she  made  a  pilgrimage 
to  Marbury  and  adroitly  gathered  from  Byron  the  status 
of  Norah.  It  was  with  a  grim  sense  of  relief  that  she 
learned  that  he,  as  head  of  the  Marbury  family,  still  held, 
and  would,  until  Norah  was  married,  parental  control  of  her 
destinies.  Through  Marcus  she  kept  track  of  Denny's  bul 
letins  from  the  field,  and  assured  herself  that  her  son  was 
not  in  correspondence  with  Norah. 

Late  in  October  a  letter  came  from  Denny,  telling  of 
the  capture  and  long  illness,  the  march  to  the  City  of  Mex 
ico,  and  Darcy's  renewed  illness  and  his  nursing  into  health. 
Then  the  information  that  Major  Warchester  had  been 
sent  to  join  the  army  of  occupation  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  the  probability  that  neither  of  them  would  reach  home 
before  the  middle  of  the  next  year. 


378  THE  ALIENS. 

The  mother  said  nothing,  but  waited  feverishly  for  the 
answer  to  her  letter.  Early  in  November  it  came.  She 
locked  herself  in  the  room,  and  opened  the  large  envelope 
with  trembling  hands.  She  read  the  first  tender,  dutiful 
phrases  with  bounding  exultation.  Her  own  Darcy — her 
high-minded  boy.  How  base  she  had  been  to  doubt  his 
loyalty — his  obedience !  He  covered  three  pages  before 
touching  the  burning  subject : 

"  I  have  shrunk  from  the  pain  I  must  give  you,  dearest 
mother !  I  have  reflected,  until  death  seemed  to  me  far 
the  easier  way  of  ending  the  evil  I  have  wound  myself  in. 
But  life  has  clung  to  me,  and  I  must  face  the  conse 
quences  of  my  own  doing !  All  that  you  say  or  can  say,  I 
know.  All  that  you  have  written  I  have  pondered,  and  I 
see  no  way  out  of  my  miserable  folly,  consistent  with 
manhood.  Whether  I  am  to  blame  for  loving  Norah  and 
winning  her  love,  it  is  idle  to  discuss.  I  have  won  her 
love.  I  do  love  her.  That  is  enough.  There  is  no 
escape  from  it.  In  the  sight  of  God  she  is  my  wife.  So 
soon  as  I  get  home  I  shall  make  her  my  wife  in  the  sight 
of  the  world.  Even  if  her  image  were  not  always  in  my 
heart,  and  if  I  did  not  associate  her  with  all  my  happiness 
in  the  future,  it  is  no  longer  in  my  power  to  deny  her. 

"  My  life  is  hers.  Her  brother  Denny  has  twice  held  me 
out  of  a  closing  grave.  How  could  I  ever  raise  my  head 
among  men  if  I  brought  this  misery  upon  a  heart  that  has 
shown  such  devotion  to  me !  Dismiss  me  from  your  plans 
of  life.  I  will  remain  in  the  army,  and  with  Norah  will 
end  my  life  tranquilly  in  the  dull  routine  of  a  soldier's 
career.  Milly  is  beautiful,  accomplished,  and  when  she 
returns  from  abroad,  will  bring  about,  by  a  great  marriage, 
all  and  more  than  you  could  ever  have  hoped  from  your 
profligate  first-born.  Tell  Agnes  all,  for  I  can't  bring  my 
self  to  write  to  her.  I  don't  think  she  will  care  much  ;  her 


THE  END  OF   THE  DREAM. 


379 


pride  may  be  a  little  wounded,  but  such  feelings  as  she 
had  for  me  will  soon  be  forgotten.  I  have  said  nothing 
to  Norah,  nor  do  I  mean  to,  until  my  return.  I  know 
your  nature  too  well  to  hope  that  you  could  ever  be 
brought  to  receive  her  as  a  daughter  of  our  house,  but 
you  would  give  me  great  comfort  if  you  could  force  your 
self  to  show  her  some  kindness  for  my  sake.  She  needs 
it,  poor  innocent  child,  for  I  have  been  a  coward  and 
villain !  I  should  have  written  this  to  you  long  ago,  be 
fore  you  wrote  me,  had  I  not  expected  to  be  home  before 
now.  I  shall  get  a  furlough  this  month,  and  go  home  to 
marry  Norah." 

The  pages  dropped  from  the  trembling  hands.  She 
drew  her  chair  nearer,  with  a  shiver,  to  the  bright  crack 
ling  wood-fire,  and  sank  deeper  into  the  cushions.  The 
sheets  of  the  letter  lay  unnoticed  at  her  side.  For  a  time 
she  was  too  stunned  to  think.  What  did  the  letter  mean  ? 
He  had  promised  the  low-born  girl  marriage  !  "  He,  a 
Vane,  a  Warchester,  had  given  his  word  to  two  women ! 
One  of  them  a  madwoman  !  Ah  ! — mad — mad  " — the  word 
burned  into  her  brain.  It  thrilled  her  with  a  wild,  fierce 
joy.  "  Mad  ?  yes  !  this  low-born  obstacle,  this  low-born 
destroyer  of  the  family  pride  was  mad.  Is  mad  !  "  she 
whispered.  "  She  is  mad  !  My  son  shall  never  marry  a 
madwoman  !  The  law  would  protect  us  against  that." 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  day  was  raw  and 
threatening.  She  called  for  the  carriage,  and  drove 
straight  to  the  law-office  of  Governor  Darcy.  She  stated 
a  case  bearing  on  the  story,  without  mentioning  names. 
The  Governor's  answer  made  her  heart  bound.  Such  a 
union  would  be  null.  It  could  be  prevented  by  a  writ  of 
lunacy.  But  the  better  way  would  be  to  remove  the  girl 
for  a  time.  She  drove  home,  her  terror  lessened,  her 
grief  assuaged.  Yes,  she  must  save  her  rash,  soft-hearted 


380  THE  ALIENS. 

boy  from  himself.  She  must  prevent  this  sacrifice  of  him 
self  and  family.  Agnes  !  Yes,  he  would  be  the  first  to 
recognize  his  mother's  wisdom  when  the  glamour  of  this 
low  love  was  gone.  She  would  save  Marcus,  too,  from  the 
meshes  of  this  siren  ;  for  the  barriers  once  thrown  down, 
when  would  these  odious  mismatings  end  ?  Colonel  War- 
chester  had  spoken  a  day  or  two  before  of  a  legal  contest 
in  Bucephalo.  Marcus  must  be  secured  to  argue  it,  and 
while  he  was  gone,  Norah  could  be  managed.  To  this 
the  Colonel  readily  assented,  as  it  would  spare  him  a 
journey  he  dreaded.  The  same  day  she  drove  out  to 
Marbury,  and  bade  Byron  be  ready  to  receive  his  ward  in 
the  evening.  Byron  was  mystified  as  to  the  means  of  in 
ducing  her  to  come,  but  the  resolute  mother  simply  said  : 

"  My  son  is  headstrong  and  ungovernable.  He  thinks 
himself  bound  to  this  girl.  It  is  my  belief  that  she  is 
mad,  and  you  can  test  the  question  by  keeping  her  well 
guarded  here  ! " 

The  astute  simplicity  and  naturalness  of  the  stroke 
flashed  upon  Byron  in  an  instant.  The  mother's  pride 
and  the  son's  folly  were  in  alliance  to  bring  about  what  he 
had  in  vain  attempted.  He  laughed  a  little  laugh  of 
knowingness,  and  the  lady  added,  in  a  coldly  indifferent 
tone  : 

"  Until  the  poor  girl  is  quite  restored,  of  course  it 
will  be  wise  to  keep  her  presence  here  as  secret  as  pos 
sible." 

"  Ah,  that  is  easily  managed.  If  we  are  troubled  by 
busybodies,  we  can  send  her  over  to  the  spring  farm,  just 
now  untenanted.  There's  more  ways  of  killing  a  rabbit 
than  breaking  its  bones." 

She  looked  at  him  fixedly,  then  said,  with  the  slightest 
shade  of  stateliness  : 

"  It  is  as  Norah's  best  friends,  you  understand,  that  we 


THE  END   OF   THE  DREAM.  381 

take  this  step,  otherwise  I  should  have  her  sent  to  a  public 
institution.  She  must  be  treated  with  the  tenderest  con 
sideration,  and  denied  nothing,  except  liberty.  The  law 
is  really  her  guardian  now,  and  in  the  end  " — she  added, 
significantly — "  we  shall  have  to  render  an  account  of 
your  stewardship  of  the  fortunes  of  your  ward.  Sooner 
or  later  her  brother  will  be  back,  and,  of  course,  she  will 
be  traced  here." 

"  To  her  legal  guardian." 

"  Exactly,  and  her  legal  guardian  must  be  able  to  show 
that  he  has  acted  in  her  interests — not  his  own." 

The  chilly  November  air  had  for  some  time  stopped 
Norah's  rambles  on  the  Holly  Hills.  This  day  was  bleak 
and  wintry,  and  she  sat  in  the  pretty  parlor,  moving  her 
fingers  lightly  over  the  keys  of  the  piano.  Manly  would 
be  with  her  presently,  when  released  from  school,  and  she 
glanced  from  the  window  from  time  to  time  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  his  tow-head  and  shining  school-boy  face, 
trudging  over  the  fallen  leaves  and  frisking  over  the  bare 
ground.  A  bright  wood-fire  gleamed  and  sputtered  in  the 
shining  grate,  and  the  air  of  comfort  and  even  refinement 
made  a  congenial  frame  for  the  lonely  mistress  of  this 
tranquil  interior.  A  book,  "  Kenilworth,"  lay  open  on  the 
little  table  near  an  arm-chair ;  evidences  of  the  reader's 
tears  were  on  the  pages  of  Amy  Robsart's  sorrowful  taking 
off.  A  bit  of  embroidery,  with  the  needles  in  it  and  the 
threads  strung  out  like  a  web  of  pea-blossoms,  hung  on 
the  head  of  a  low  couch. 

But  Norah  could  not  keep  her  mind  on  the  book  or  her 
hands  to  the  work.  Even  as  she  sat  at  the  piano  her  eyes 
gazed  far  off  absently  before  her,  and  she  fell  into  soft, 
timorous  sighs  as  the  random  chords  floated  into  the  mel 
ancholy  strains  of  long-forgotten  airs.  Though  there  was 
no  chill  in  the  genial  air  of  the  room,  she  had  a  dainty 


382  THE  ALIENS. 

worsted  shawl  over  her  shoulders,  fastened  at  the  throat 
by  the  little  brooch,  the  object  of  her  furtive  joy  at  Mar- 
bury  so  long  ago,  but  now  worn  openly,  for  there  was 
none  to  question  or  wonder  at  her  wearing  it.  The 
clouds  outside  grew  denser,  and  presently  large  flakes  of 
snow  whirled  among  the  bare  limbs  and  vanished  as  they 
reached  the  ground.  Manly  would  hardly  come  now.  He 
could  not  resist  this  first  fall  of  the  snow,  and  she  turned 
with  a  little  sigh  to  her  embroidery.  Suddenly,  in  the 
still  air  she  heard  the  clatter  of  horses  drawing  near,  and 
hurried  to  the  window.  She  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  car 
riage  as  it  passed,  and  returned  to  her  seat  on  the  couch. 
Presently  a  low  knock  startled  her.  That  was  a  sound 
rarely  heard,  for  the  visitors  to  the  cottage  were  intimates 
who  rarely  made  use  of  the  knocker.  She  was  alone  in 
the  house,  and,  drawing  the  shawl  about  her  with  care,  she 
hurried  to  the  door.  In  the  dim  light  she  did  not  at  first 
recognize  the  visitor. 

"  You  don't  know  me,  Norah  ?     It  is  Mrs.  Warchester." 

"  Oh  yes  ;  won't  you  come  in  ?  I  am  alone,  and  I  was 
a  bit  startled,"  and  she  stepped  aside  to  give  the  grand 
lady  space  to  pass  in  the  narrow  hallway. 

"  Alone,  are  you  ?  Well,  I  want  to  speak  with  you 
just  a  moment ;  it's  quite  as  well  that  you  are  alone." 
This  was  said  with  just  the  shade  of  change  from  the  first 
insinuating  tone,  a  sort  of  suppressed  triumph  that  Norah's 
sensitive  ear  instantly  distinguished.  She  drew  the  shawl 
still  more  closely  around  her,  and,  pointing  the  way, 
followed  the  visitor  to  the  little  parlor.  She  placed  a 
chair  near  the  grate  and  shrank  back  to  the  couch,  where 
the  light  was  dim  and  herself  in  shadow. 

Mrs.  Warchester  did  not  offer  to  remove  her  cloak, 
and  poor  Norah  was  too  much  overwhelmed  by  the  appa 
rition  to  think  of  suggesting  it.  The  great  lady  glanced 


THE  END   OF  THE  DREAM.  383 

scrutinizingly  about  the  trim  apartment,  her  eye  lingering 
with  well-bred  wonder  on  the  handsome  piano,  and  the 
few  admirable  engravings  decorating  the  modest  walls. 
The  books  in  the  little  racks,  and  the  open  volume,  ar 
rested  her  eye,  and  her  well-curved  lips  were  a  trifle  com 
pressed  as  she  said  in  a  tone  meant  to  be  engagingly 
sympathetic  : 

"  Why,  Norah,  you  have  a  charming  little  home  here  ; 
you  ought  to  be  a  very  happy  girl." 

Norah,  grown  more  and  more  disturbed  as  she 
watched  the  visitor,  could  make  no  answer  beyond  bend 
ing  her  head  and  moving  the  worsted  work,  as  though  it 
were  in  some  sort  an  offense  to  the  aesthetic  harmony  of 
the  details  of  the  interior. 

"  Your  brothers  are  very  good  to  you,  Norah ;  you  owe 
them  a  great  deal ;  no  lady  in  Warchester  is  more  taste 
fully  housed  than  you  are." 

"  Yes,  Madame  Warchester,  Denny  and  Larry  are  very 
kind  brothers ;  they  are  very  good  to  me." 

"  It  would  be  hard  not  to  be  good  to  you,  Norah,  for, 
from  all  I  have  heard,  you  deserve  it." 

Mrs.  Warchester  pushed  her  chair  from  the  glowing 
fire,  but,  as  she  moved  it,  she  managed  to  get  nearer  the 
couch,  where  she  could  see  the  girl's  face  more  distinctly. 
The  movement  and  the  words  were  perfectly  natural,  but 
they  produced  a  sinister  impression  on  Norah.  She 
shrank  farther  back  in  shadow  and  said  tremulously  : 

"  Everybody  is  friendlier  to  me  than  I'm  deserving  of. 
My  brother  Denny  has  always  been  like  a  father  to  me." 

"  Yes,"  with  effusion,  "  Denny  is  a  noble  fellow.  In 
my  letters  from  my  son,  his  conduct  is  spoken  of  with 
praise  and  affection."  She  watched  the  girl  as  this  was 
said.  Even  in  the  obscure  light  she  could  detect  a 
heightening  of  color  and  a  quickened  breathing.  "  Yes," 
17 


384  THE  ALIENS. 

she  resumed,  "  Denny  twice  saved  my  son  from  deadly 
peril,  and  he  shall  never  lack  friends  in  our  house."  She 
waited  ;  Norah's  reticence  was  beginning  to  puzzle  her. 
Could  it  be  artifice  ?  it  wasn't  timidity.  Her  purpose  was 
to  lead  Norah  into  some  expression  that  would  make  the 
topic  she  had  come  to  treat  a  natural  sequence.  But  the 
girl's  non-committal  responses  promised  to  drag  the  inter 
view  interminably.  She  made  a  last  attempt  to  evoke  a 
decisive  answer. 

"  I  suppose  you  hear  regularly  from — your  brother?  " 
"  Yes,  ma'am !     Denis  writes  whenever  he  can." 
"  And  you  have  heard  of  his  goodness  to  my  son  ?  " 
"  Yes,  ma'am  ;  Denis  wrote  about  it  to  Dilly  Dane,  but 
he  said  only  a  word  of  it  to  me.     If  Dilly  hadn't  read  me 
her  letters,  I  shouldn't  have  known  much  about  it ;  for 
Denny  is  very  little  given  to  talking  about  matters  that 
concern  others." 

Here,  at  least,  was  an  admission.  Darcy  was  evidently 
not  in  correspondence  with  Norah,  and  the  measures  she 
had  resolved  upon  were  not  endangered  in  that  direction. 
"  Have  you  Denny's  letters,  Norah  ?  My  son  is  so 
busy  that  he  writes  me  very  sparingly,  and  I  am  very  eager 
to  learn  all  I  can  about  the  poor  boy." 

"Yes."  The  cherished  packet  was  at  hand,  and  Norah 
eagerly  got  them  out  and  handed  them  to  the  mother. 
She  went  to  the  window  and  stood  with  her  back  to  Norah 
as  she  ran  through  them.  Not  a  line  indicated  any  confi 
dence  between  Denis  and  Darcy — nor  any  hint  that  the 
brother  suspected  the  relation  between  his  sister  and  his 
friend.  Indeed,  Norah's  readiness  to  show  them  re-as 
sured  her  before  she  had  looked  at  them.  They  breathed 
admiration  and  love  for  Darcy,  but  without  a  syllable  that 
Norah  was  intimate  with  the  young  man,  or  more  than  the 
most  distant  acquaintance.  There  was  a  triumphant 


THE  END  OF   THE  DREAM.  385 

gleam  in  the  mother's  eye  ;  the  room  was  too  warm,  and 
she  slipped  her  fur  cloak  off  and  laid  it  on  the  table. 
Resuming  her  chair,  drawn  still  closer  to  Norah,  she  said 
gently : 

"  Norah,  your  brother  is  a  real  friend  to  my  son  ;  do 
you  think  you  could  be  as  good  a  friend — as  self-sacrific 
ing — if  it  came  to  you  to  be  ?  " 

Norah  was  shrinking  far  back  in  the  corner  of  the 
couch.  Her  breath  came  and  went  in  little  gasps.  I  be 
lieve  that  she  dimly  foresaw  what  was  coming ;  that  living 
so  much  in  the  realm  of  dreams,  and  construing  actuali 
ties  from  her  fanciful  prepossessions,  she  had  the  clair 
voyant  sense,  sometimes  seen  in  children  and  dreamers 
given  to  commune  with  nature.  Her  silence  did  not  dis 
concert  the  mother,  who  now  saw  her  way  clear. 

"  Yes,  Norah,  I  have  come  to  ask  you  to  do  your  duty 
like  a  Christian  girl.  My  son  in  boyish  thoughtlessness 
gave  you  his  heart.  I  don't  blame  you  that  you  gave  him 
yours.  It  was  quite  natural,  deprived  as  you  were  of  a 
mother's  counsel,  and  the  safeguards  that  protect  young 
girls  in  their  own  home.  My  son  is  of  a  race  that  never 
did  dishonor.  Had  he  been  of  any  other  sort,  such  rela 
tions  as  yours  would  have  put  you  in  deadly  peril — would 
have  left  you  a  ruined  life.  But  having  innocently  and,  I 
have  no  doubt,  undesignedly  won  your  love,  he  has  felt  it 
a  duty  to  sacrifice  himself  and  his  family  by — by — " 
Here  the  smooth  tone  grew  hard,  and  only  a  dry  gasping 
sound  came  from  the  throat.  "  You  may  not  know — he 
has  been  for  two  years  the  promised  husband  of  a  sweet 
girl  in  his  own  rank  in  life.  His  own  and  his  family's  for 
tune  depend  upon  that  union  ;  for  I  may  tell  you  in  con 
fidence  that  my  husband's  business  is  badly  involved,  and 
it  is  only  by  my  son's  marriage  with — with  the  lady  he 
long  ago  chose,  and  his  family  desires,  that  he  and  we 


3  86  THE  ALIENS. 

can  be  saved  the  greatest  distress.  I  know  that  this  would 
be  enough  to  decide  you  in  the  matter ;  but  I  will  confide 
still  farther  in  your  discretion.  My  son  will  return  shortly, 
and  the  marriage  will  follow  immediately.  I  know  him, 
however,  so  well,  that  I  fear,  unless  you  give  him  a  release, 
he  will  hesitate  as  to  his  duty.  He  will  feel  that  Denny 
has  put  a  burden  upon  him,  and  that,  though  his  heart  is 
another's,  he  must  remain  unmarried,  as  long  as  you  do 
not  bid  him  keep  his  pledge  to  his  sweetheart,  and  his 
duty  to  his  parents  !  " — a  pause — 

"  You  are  listening  to  me,  Norah  ?  " — for  the  mute  fig 
ure  now  crouched  far  in  the  corner,  the  head  down  on  the 
cushion,  and  no  audible  sound  heard. 

"You  would  not  be  happy  if  you  consented  to  my 
son's  sacrifice,  for  he  would  be  giving  himself  up  to  pay 
the  debt  due  your  brother.  No  self-respecting  girl  would 
consent  to  put  a  man  in  such  bondage  ;  no  right-feeling 
girl  would  consent  to  accept  a  sacrifice  that  would  make 
the  man  she  loved  miserable  !  I  know  you  to  be  a  good 
girl,  and  if  you  love  this  unhappy  boy  with  half  the  love 
of  his  mother,  you  will  take  this  load  from  all  our  hearts, 
by  giving  me  the  power  to  write  him  that  he  is  free." 

She  had  moved  to  the  couch  as  she  spoke,  and  lifted 
Norah's  head.  The  girl  started  convulsively,  and  moved 
from  her  in  a  panic  of  terror,  holding  up  her  hands  in 
piteous  entreaty,  as  the  mother  attempted  to  support  her. 

"  Ah  !  my  God  !  my  God  !  What  can  I  say  ?  What 
can  I  do  ? " 

"  Say  what  I  ask  of  you,  my  poor  child  !  God  will  give 
you  strength  and  the  peace  that  comes  of  right  doing." 

Suddenly,  clasping  her  head  with  both  hands,  Norah 
turned  in  the  firelight  and  panted  hoarsely : 

"  Does — Dar — does  he  bid  me  do  this — does  he  ask 
it?" 


THE  END  OF   THE  DREAM.  387 

The  mother,  desperate,  believing  that  in  Darcy's  behalf 
all  things  were  justified,  didn't  flinch  from  this  final 
wrench  of  conscience. 

"Yes,  Norah,  Darcy,  conscious  of  his  duty,  and  to 
spare  other  hearts,  asks  this  sacrifice  of  you.  He — " 

But,  as  this  cruel  blow  came,  the  strength  that  had 
supported  the  sorely-tried  heart  gave  way.  She  reeled  as 
from  the  impact  of  a  blow,  and  slid  limply  from  the  soft 
cushion  to  the  floor.  Before  applying  a  restorative,  Mrs. 
Warchester  hurried  to  the  hall  door,  and  called  lightly. 
She  had  barely  stooped  over  Norah's  inanimate  form, 
when  Byron  was  at  her  side.  He  lifted  the  helpless  body 
and  laid  it  on  the  couch.  Byron's  arms  were  filled  with 
warm  wraps.  Mrs.  Warchester  lifted  the  girl's  shoulders 
and  slipped  a  thick  shawl  under  her.  But  as  she  was 
adjusting  it,  she  became  rigid,  uttered  a  little  stifled  cry, 
and  sat  quite  still,  staring  helplessly  at  the  lifeless  form  in 
her  arm.  When  she  rose,  she  moved  in  a  dazed,  frightened 
way,  and  gasped  hoarsely  : 

"  You  must  see  to  her ;  I — I  can  not  touch  her.  She 
is  your  ward.  Take  her." 

"  I  reckon  she  ain't  poison,  madam ;  it  can't  soil  any 
one  to  touch  her,  can  it  ?  " 

Mrs.  Warchester  shuddered,  as  she  hastily  fastened  her 
cloak  with  trembling  hands,  and  moved  to  the  door.  Byron 
carried  Norah  out  and  placed  her  in  the  carriage,  and 
remarked  with  angry  impatience  that  Mrs.  Warchester, 
in  the  carriage,  shrank  as  far  from  the  body  as  she  could. 

He  got  upon  the  box  and  drove  off.  When  near  the 
Warchester  gates  he  was  directed  to  stop.  Mrs.  Warchester 
got  out,  closed  the  door  carefully,  and  handed  him  a  small 
leather  bag. 

"  There  are  salts  and  brandy  in  this.  When  you 
get  out  a  short  distance,  you  had  better  revive  her.  It 


388  THE  ALIENS. 

may  be  dangerous  to  drive  all  the  way  to  Marbury  before 
attending  to  her.  And" — she  said  this  with  curious  sig 
nificance — "  be  very  careful  to  have  the  physician  for  her 
at  once." 

"  Then  you're  not  going  home  with  us,  ma'am  ? " 
Byron  asked  in  surprise.  "  What  shall  I  do  with  the 
team  ? " 

"  Send  them  to  the  Cataract  Stables,  where  my  coach 
man  will  come  for  them ;  and  let  me  know  how  you  suc 
ceed  with — with  the  person."  She  hurried  away  hastily, 
as  if  fearing  dissent,  and  disappeared  in  the  darkness. 

"Well,  she's  about  the  chilliest  bit  of  human  natur' 
I've  struck.  She's  got  about  as  much  heart  as  an  acorn 
in  plowin'  time,"  and,  with  a  vicious  lash  on  the  halting 
horses,  Byron  set  off  down  the  Marbury  road,  never  stop 
ping  until  the  horses  drew  up  at  the  lane  gate. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

A   NEW  LOVE. 

AN  hour  later  Larry  entered  the  cottage.  He  had 
been  down  to  the  new  station  to  meet  Aunt  Selina,  who, 
on  Denny's  urgent  invitation,  was  to  make  her  future  home 
under  his  roof.  She  had  not  arrived,  and  Larry,  who  was 
keeping  her  coming  as  a  surprise  for  Norah,  ran  up  to  the 
room  prepared  for  Aunt  Selina's  reception,  without  look 
ing  for  his  sister.  He  slipped  down  the  stairs  presently, 
and  went  to  his  workshop,  where  he  was  giving  the  finish 
ing  touches  to  a  pretty  cabinet  to  be  set  in  Aunt  Selina's 
room.  He  noticed  that  the  tea-table  was  not  laid  as  usual, 
but  the  fact  did  not  rest  on  his  mind  with  any  significance. 


A  NEW  LOVE.  389 

It  was  seven  o'clock  almost  when  he  bethought  himself 
of  supper.  On  re-entering  the  house,  there  was  still  no 
sign  of  Norah.  He  called,  but  there  was  no  answer.  He 
was  a  good  deal  surprised  but  not  alarmed,  for  sometimes 
Norah,  visiting  Mrs.  Blythe,  lost  track  of  time,  and  came 
home  late  with  little  Manly. 

She  had  never,  however,  left  him  supperless,  and  he 
set  about  preparing  the  meal  to  surprise  her  when  she 
came.  But  he  was  hungry,  and,  long  after  the  tall  clock 
in  the  hall  had  struck  eight,  he  poured  out  the  tea  and  ate 
in  discontent.  It  was  near  ten  o'clock  when  he  resolved 
to  set  out  for  the  "  Blue  Jay  "  to  fetch  the  truant  home. 
Manly  was  alone  in  the  tap-room,  apostrophizing  a  much- 
beruffled  owl  that  blinked  vaguely  under  the  straggling 
beams  of  a  tallow  candle. 

When  Larry  appeared,  Manly  gave  him  a  nod,  and,  as 
if  continuing  the  conversation,  went  on  : 

"  Now,  Minerva  won't  hoot  any  more  in  the  night 
than  she  does  in  the  day.  Norah  said  if  I  kept  her  in  the 
dark  she'd  say,  tu-whoo,  tu-he-he,  but  she  don't  say  a 
blamed  thing.  I  don't  believe  she's  got  the  least  bit  of  a 
voice !  " 

Larry  laughed.  He  was  given  to  sympathizing  with 
the  small  Manly's  troubles,  and  had  made  the  lad  sleds 
and  traps  of  such  wondrous  beauty  that  he  was  the  envy 
of  all  the  school-boys  in  Warchester. 

"  You  must  put  Minerva  in  the  dark,  the  light  frightens 
her.  Keep  her  in  the  barn,  and  she'll  hoot  fast  enough. 
Where's  Norah  ? " 

"  Home,  I  reckon." 

"No,  I've  just  come  from  home;  she  hasn't  been  there 
since  six  o'clock.  She  wasn't  there  when  I  got  home  to 
supper,"  and  Larry's  voice  now  had  a  shade  of  tremor 
that  impressed  Manly. 


390 


THE  ALIENS. 


"  O  Larry,  she  can't  have  gone  out  of  her  head  again  ! 
Did  you  look  in  the  copse- in  the  hills  ?  " 

Larry  sank  into  the  long  settle  by  the  wall,  and  his 
heart  began  to  beat. 

"  And  she  hasn't  been  here  at  all  ? " 

"  No,  I've  been  sliding  since  I  came  from  school  right 
by  the  house,  but  I  haven't  seen  her,  and  she  always 
plays  with  me  when  she  comes.  But  I'll  ask  mother." 

He  came  back  almost  immediately  with  Mrs.  Blythe, 
and  that  good  soul  made  no  disguise  of  her  alarm.  Larry 
was  provided  with  a  lantern,  and  with  Manly  set  out  to 
scour  Norah's  haunts  in  the  hazel  copses.  But  there  was, 
of  course,  no  sign.  A  night  of  piteous  anxiety  passed, 
and  a  score  of  people  made  search  the  next  day.  Late  at 
night  a  scarf  that  Manly  recognized  as  Norah's  was  found 
among  the  rocks  at  the  edge  of  the  cataract,  and  the 
stream  below  the  falls  was  searched.  When,  two  or  three 
days  later,  Marcus  returned,  systematic  effort  was  re 
newed,  but,  beyond  remnants  of  woman's  apparel,  faded 
and  in  shreds,  there  was  nothing  found  to  confirm  the 
general  belief  that  the  poor  girl  had  been  carried  over  the 
cataract.  It  was  not  until  the  last  hope  was  gone  that 
Marcus  wrote  the  awful  story  to  Denny,  his  own  anguish 
keener  than  the  brother  could  feel.  It  had  never  oc 
curred  to  him  that  there  might  be  an  unknown  cause  for 
Norah's  disappearance.  He  had  driven  out  to  Marbury, 
but  Byron  was  not  at  home,  and  Amelia  made  no  allusion 
to  the  tragedy,  which  had  been  briefly  related  in  the 
county  paper.  When  Marcus  called  on  his  aunt  she 
was  ill,  and  so  the  subject  was  never  mentioned  after 
ward. 

Agnes  had  returned  from  a  visit  to  Bucephalo,  and, 
after  a  short  stay  in  Warchester,  had  gone  to  spend  the 
winter  in  Washington,  where  the  Vanes  had  a  kinsman  a 


A  NEW  LOVE.  391 

Cabinet  Minister.  The  young  girl  delighted  in  the  cere 
monial  of  capital  life,  and  was  greatly  courted  by  the 
stately  young  men  of  the  republican  court.  One  among 
them,  the  son  of  an  eminent  Southern  statesman,  became 
so  markedly  assiduous  in  his  devotion  that  rumors  of  an 
engagement  penetrated  to  Warchester.  But  the  mother's 
fears  were  presently  allayed  on  receiving  tidings  from 
Darcy  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  capital,  with  dis 
patches  for  the  War  Department.  He  would  meet  Agnes, 
she  foresaw,  and  the  court  paid  her  by  rivals  would  spur 
him  into  holding  his  own. 

Sure  enough,  Agnes,  one  day,  sharing  the  homage  of 
the  great  with  the  lady  of  the  White  House,  met  her  lover 
under  the  ordeal  of  a  hundred  eyes.  Both  were  sur 
prised,  but  the  girl  bore  the  shock  more  composedly  than 
the  recreant  lover.  In  fact,  for  a  few  minutes,  Darcy  was 
dumfounded.  He  did  not  know  on  what  terms  to  meet 
her.  If  his  mother  had  made  known  his  determination, 
Agnes  must  regard  him  with  hatred  and  loathing.  But 
she  met  him  gayly,  even  with  tenderness.  He  was  dis 
traught  and  silent,  till  presently  an  opportunity  came  to 
walk  with  her  in  the  wide  hall  leading  to  the  conservatory. 
She  took  his  arm  with  the  old  familiarity,  and  bent  her 
head  in  the  old  seductive  way.  He  was  explaining  his 
coming  to  Washington,  and  his  ignorance  of  her  being 
there,  when  a  dashing  young  fellow,  coming  from  the  rear 
entrance  of  the  reception-room,  made  up  to  them,  ex 
claiming  : 

"  Well,  Miss  Vane,  is  this  the  way  you  keep  faith  ?  You 
were  to  have  joined  General  Marline  and  me  for  a  turn  in 
the  greenhouse  Fie  on  such  fickleness !  " 

Darcy  looked  from  the  smiling  face  of  the  intruder  to 
the  blushes  of  Agnes  in  surprise.  She  disengaged  herself 
gayly,  and  with  a  bewitching  gesture  said  : 


392  THE  ALIENS. 

"  Mr.  Brinton,  this  is  my  nearest  friend  and  neighbor, 
Major  Darcy  War  Chester." 

The  young  man  frankly  extended  his  hand  in  the  im 
pulsive  Southern  way,  and  said  good-humoredly  : 

"Ah,  that  excuses  your  faithlessness  !  An  old  friend 
always  takes  the  claim  from  a  new  one.  I  know  of  Major 
Warchester  very  well ;  my  cousin  Colonel  Ewell  has  writ 
ten  of  your  doings  at  Molino  del  Rey.  Are  you  to  be  in 
town  long,  Major?" 

"  No,  I  think  not ;  I  believe  I  return  at  once  to  join  my 
regiment  on  the  Rio  Grande." 

Lionel  Brinton  was  at  the  moment  the  heir-apparent  of 
a  political  personage  in  Washington.  His  father  was  openly 
proclaimed  the  prospective  successor  of  the  present  Execu 
tive  at  the  next  election.  The  family  was  one  of  the  con 
ceded  potentialities  of  Virginia,  and  the  young  man  was  the 
caressed  darling  of  every  social  activity.  Darcy  watched 
him  as  Agnes,  bidding  the  young  man  join  them,  rattled  on 
in  the  high  spirits  natural  to  her  race.  Brinton's  florid 
compliments  and  subdued  manners  were  at  first  puzzling 
to  Darcy,  but  he  made  up  his  mind  that  the  youth  held 
a  place  in  Agnes's  heart.  When  he  quitted  them,  Brinton 
bowed  him  off  quite  as  if  he  was  in  some  sort  the  young 
girl's  protector. 

Darcy  was  confounded  !  He  hurried  off  through  the 
dreary  unkempt  grounds  of  the  White  House  to  his  lodg 
ings,  anxious  for  seclusion  to  give  him  a  chance  to  think- 
It  must  be,  of  course,  that  his  mother  had  told  Agnes  the 
story  of  his  love  for  Norah  !  She  had,  as  he  foresaw,  ac 
cepted  the  release  from  him  rather  as  a  relief,  and  was 
probably  pledged  to  the  confident  young  cavalier.  Yes — 
that  must  be  it.  But  then,  surely,  she  would  have  given 
some  sign  of  pique  on  meeting  him ;  she  wouldn't  have 
called  him  "  Darcy."  She  wouldn't  have  fallen  into  the 


A  NEW  LOVE.  393 

tender  undertone  she  had  begun  in  if  the  memory  of  his  mis 
erable  trifling  had  been  in  her  heart.  But  perhaps  it  was 
to  show  him  that  his  treason  had  not  wounded  her.  He 
was  perplexed,  and  saw  no  way  of  solving  the  mystery. 
In  the  evening  he  called  on  his  kinsmen  the  Vanes,  and 
as  he  arose  to  leave  his  uncle  followed  him  to  the  street. 

"  You  say  you  return  to  the  Rio  Grande,  Darcy,  my  boy. 
Your  mother  expected  you  here  when  we  left  home,  and  the 
marriage  robes  are  in  order,  and  waiting.  I  tell  you  what 
it  is,  my  dear  fellow,  you  mustn't  trust  too  much  to  your 
fine  eyes  and  your  Apollo  form  !  Agnes  is  besieged  on  all 
sides,  and,  unless  you  bind  her  fast,  you  don't  know  when 
some  enterprising  chap  may  make  off  with  her.  We  can't 
keep  the  song-bird  caged  forever,  you  know  !  " 

It  was  well  for  Darcy  that  the  obscurity  of  the  misera 
bly  lighted  street  stood  his  friend.  He  paled  and  flushed 
as  this  jocose  reproach  fell  on  his  ear  ;  his  kinsman  was 
far  from  suspecting  the  revelation  he  was  making. 

"Ah,  love  must  wait  till  the  laurels  bloom,"  he  re 
torted,  with  an  effort  at  gayety,  and,  pressing  the  other's 
hand,  he  strode  away.  Washington  was  then  a  hamlet 
with  a  single  lighted  street,  and  he  was  in  no  humor  to 
risk  the  mud  in  his  pensive  ramble.  He  returned  to  his 
dismal  room  in  the  noisy  hotel,  and  walked  its  narrow 
circumference  until  far  into  the  morning  hours.  It  was 
plain  to  him  that  his  mother  had  not  given  Agnes  his 
message,  and  he  must  do  it  himself.  But  how  tell  the 
girl,  radiant  in  the  recognition  of  her  beauty,  adored  by 
all  with  whom  she  came  in  contact,  that  he  was  a  craven, 
that  he  had  courted  her  by  command,  and  gave  her  up  to 
save  himself  the  stigma  of  dastard  and  ingrate  !  Then, 
too,  the  time  was  to  be  so  short  in  the  city  that  he  could 
not  let  events  reconcile  her  gradually  to  his  defection,  so 
that,  when  the  declaration  came,  she  would  be  prepared. 


394  THE  ALIENS. 

Perhaps  she  would  herself  relieve  him  if  he  gave  her  time 
and  pretext. 

This  young  fellow  Brinton — surely  his  manner  told  of 
more  than  merely  perfunctory  devotion.  But  then,  the 
Southron  was  much  given  to  exaggeration  and  hyperbolic 
expression  to  women.  Darcy  would  at  least  find  out  for 
himself.  Brinton  might  mean  much,  he  might  mean  noth 
ing.  Fate  was  his  pronounced  friend  the  next  morning, 
for  what  should  he  find  but  a  note  from  Brinton,  inviting 
him  to  luncheon  ! 

The  young  fellow  met  Darcy  with  the  effusive  cor 
diality  of  his  clime,  and  in  ten  minutes  was  divulging  his 
most  cherished  confidences.  It  was  not  necessary  for 
Darcy  to  intrigue  for  the  topic  he  had  at  heart.  In  a 
burst  of  irrestrainable  impulse  Brinton  burst  out : 

"  Do  you  know,  Major,  your  relative,  Miss  Vane,  is  a 
peerless  beauty  ?  There  isn't  such  a  princess  in  all  Vir 
ginia  ! "  He  leaned  back  with  the  wine-glass  held  as  a 
sort  of  shield  before  his  face,  possibly  to  conceal  the 
emotion  that  his  words  but  partly  revealed.  Darcy  nod 
ded  vaguely,  not  so  much  struck  by  Agnes's  superiority 
to  the  Virginia  princesses  as  the  amorous  eulogist  thought 
he  would  be.  Brinton  took  the  silence  for  encourage 
ment,  and  added,  in  a  tone  of  mingled  entreaty  and  as 
surance  : 

"  Do  you  think  my  suit  would  be  acceptable  to  her  ? 
You  know  our  family  is  the  best  in  Virginia !  We  were 
noble  when  the  Lees,  Custises,  and  Washingtons  were 
poor  tobacco-planters  !  " 

Darcy  couldn't  resist  a  smile,  and  answered,  very 
blandly  : 

"  Such  claims  as  you  have  to  present,  Mr.  Brinton,  no 
young  lady  of  any  sensibility  could  treat  other  than 
seriously." 


A  NEW  LOVE. 


395 


"  Do  you  really  think  so,  sir,  and — do  you  know — are 
you  at  liberty  to  tell  me — ah,  that  is — "  his  brown  cheeks 
grew  quite  red,  and  his  eyes  a  little  humid — "do  you 
think  that  Miss  Vane  is  heart-free,  fancy-free,  as  we  say 
in  Virginia?" — he  called  it  "Vaginiya." 

"  Ah,  as  to  that,  Mr.  Brinton,  who  can  tell  about  these 
beauties  ?  Heart-breaking,  I  am  told,  is  their  by-play. 
You  know  the  adage,  'Faint  heart  never  won  fair  lady.'" 

"Yes,  I  know,  but  your  Northern  girls  are  so  different 
from  Virginia  girls  " — he  always  spoke  of  Virginia  as  if  it 
were  another  country,  merely  identified  with  the  other 
States  of  the  Union  by  the  amenities  of  international 
usage.  "  In  Virginia  a  girl  prides  herself  on  the  number 
of  hearts  she  breaks,  and  engages  herself  to  the  fellow 
that  cuts  cover  with  the  most  to-do  !  " 

So  my  Lord  Warchester  sallied  out  a  free  man.  He 
knew  in  his  heart  that  Agnes  was  smitten  with  the  tall 
caballero ;  that  his  wicked  black  eyes  had  flashed  a  soft 
story  into  her  empty  heart,  that,  for  the  moment  at  least, 
filled  it  with  the  divine  symphony  his  own  had  never 
echoed  there.  But  what  a  confusing  code  the  law  of  love 


is! 

With  the  assurance  that  her  heart  was  in  another's 
keeping,  he  began  to  feel  the  gnawing  of  a  jealous  tooth. 
And  this  is  a  phase  of  this  melancholy  comedy  passing 
before  you,  that  has  always  made  me  scout  the  astuteness 
that  the  gossips  of  Warchester  ascribed  to  Madame  War 
chester,  Darcy's  fond  mamma.  If  she  had  been  as  clever 
as  she  was  resolute  and  ambitious,  I  am  convinced  that 
she  would  have  fired  her  son  with  jealousy,  instead  of 
making  way  with  Norah  after  the  manner  of  the  old- 
school  novels.  She  never  knew  how  nearly  the  work  that 
she  undertook  came  to  being  done  by  the  dark-eyed 
young  Virginian.  His  brag  and  complacency  did  more  in 


396 


THE  ALIENS. 


ten  minutes  to  shake  Darcy's  constancy  to  Norah  than  all 
the  plotting  of  the  anxious  mamma.  Mars  and  Bellona 
were  plainly  at  work,  however,  against  the  peace  of  the 
Warchester  family.  On  calling  at  the  War  Office,  Major 
Darcy  received  orders  hurrying  him  at  once  to  the  Rio 
Grande  again,  where  he  must  report  with  vital  dispatches 
within  a  time  so  limited  that  he  would  be  forced  to  ride 
Southward  day  and  night. 

When  his  traps  were  packed  and  everything  in  readi 
ness,  he  hastened  to  bid  Agnes  adieu.  When  he  gave  his 
name  and  asked  for  her,  the  domestic  looked  a  little 
uncertain,  but  requested  him  to  wait  a  moment.  Almost 
at  the  same  instant  Darcy  caught  the  sound  of  Agnes 's 
voice  quite  near,  and,  recurring  to  old  ways,  he  pushed 
open  a  door  at  the  side  of  the  vestibule.  Yes,  Agnes  was 
there,  and  before  her,  on  his  knees,  the  Virginian  knight ! 
His  back  was  toward  Darcy,  and  he  did  not  for  a  moment 
notice  the  blush  and  start  by  which  Agnes  signalized  the 
apparition  of  her  old  sweetheart. 

"  You  will  be  queen  of  my  heart,  and  princess  of  our 
little  realm  !  You  shall  have  minions  to  obey  your  slight 
est  beck  !  The  glories  of  the  house  of  Brinton  shall  be 
revived  to  do  honor  to  your  regal  beauty.  Ah,  Agnes — " 

But  at  this  point  Darcy  coughed,  and  regained  gravity 
and  composure  to  say  : 

"  Pardon  me,  Agnes,  I  supposed  you  were  alone.     I — " 

The  swain  paused  deliberately,  still  resting  on  one 
knee,  and  turned  his  head,  not  at  all  disconcerted.  Agnes 
was  blushing,  unable  to  speak,  whether  from  a  realization 
of  the  ludicrousness  of  the  scene  or  embarrassment,  Dar 
cy  couldn't  guess.  The  heir  of  the  Brintons,  concluding 
to  make  use  of  his  feet,  arose  and  said  with  comic  gravity : 

"  I  am  not  sorry  that  you  have  come,  Major  Warchester. 
It  is  right  that  you  should  know  that  I  have  paid  my  ad- 


A  NEW  LOVE.  397 

dresses  to  your  incomparable  kinswoman,  and  that  she 
deigns  to  accept  them  !  " 

"  I  have  only  time  to  add  my  felicitations  to  my  adieus. 
I  am  ordered  to  the  army  on  the  instant,  and  I  took  the 
right  of  an  old  friend  and  relative  to  run  in  and  say  good- 
by!" 

He  eyed  Agnes  a  little  disdainfully  as  he  said  this,  and 
waited  for  her  to  speak.  But  she  stood  immovable  and  si 
lent,  with  high  color  and  glistening  eyes.  He  advanced 
and  held  out  his  hand,  Brinton  turning  to  the  win 
dow. 

"  I  hope  you  will  be  very  happy,  Agnes.  It  is  better 
after  all  that  you  have  chosen  as  you  have.  I — I — have 
no  right  to  complain." 

<l  No,  Darcy,  you  certainly  have  no  right  to  com 
plain  !  " 

"  Well — I  wish  you  every  happiness !  "  He  raised  her 
hand  to  his  lips,  turned,  and  was  gone  ! 

She  remained  standing  where  Darcy  had  left  her  so 
long  that  Brinton,  buried  in  the  embrasure  of  the  window, 
fancied  that  both  must  have  left  the  room.  He  emerged 
from  the  heavy  draperies,  astonished  and  scared. 

"  Has  your  cousin  gone,  Agnes  ?  " 

She  aroused  herself  and  sank  into  a  chair. 

"  Yes,  he  is  gone." 

"  Why,  how  abrupt !  He  is  very  much  cut  up,  isn't  he, 
at  his  marching  orders  ? " 

"  Yes,  he  is  very  much  put  out." 

The  ardent  prattle  of  the  Virginian  soon  restored  the 
temperature  of  love,  and  an  hour  later  I  doubt  whether 
there  was  in  the  girl's  heart  a  thought  of  the  man  upon 
whom  she  had  looked  for  years  as  the  companion  of  her 
life.  But  as  he  cantered  toward  Annapolis,  Darcy  saw  all 
the  past  with  torturing  vividness.  He  didn't  know  wheth- 


398  THE  ALIENS. 

er  this  was  a  release  or  a  punishment.  He  was  certainly 
free  ;  free  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  reproach  from  his 
mother,  for  Agnes  had  herself  broken  the  bond. 

Meanwhile,  the  tidings  of  Darcy's  coming  to  Washing 
ton  had  suffused  Mrs.  Warchester's  cheeks  with  a  tinge 
of  higher  color  than  usually  adorned  that  unimpression 
able  face.  Had  Darcy  learned  of  Norah's  disappearance  ? 
What  would  the  effect  be  ?  Wouldn't  he  suspect  some 
outside  handiwork,  and  wouldn't  he  in  his  boyish  wrath 
undo  all  that  had  been  done  ?  Would  he  come  from 
Washington  to  Warchester?  He  would  meet  Agnes. 
She  surley  would  employ  all  her  arts  to  hold  her  sweet 
heart  ? 

If  she  dared  write  to  the  girl  and  warn  her !  But  how 
word  a  letter  that  would  not  at  the  same  time  excite 
strange  doubts  on  the  score  of  her  lover's  loyalty  ?  If 
she  had  already  begun  to  resent  Darcy's  indifference — 
and  it  had  long  been  plain  that  she  did — she  would  be 
exasperated  beyond  soothing  by  the  strange  story  of  the 
Norah  episode. 

But  it  was  plain  that  Darcy  must  be  made  aware  of  his 
freedom  from  even  a  shadow  of  an  obligation.  The  moth 
er's  decision  was  promptly  taken.  She  was  on  the  road 
within  forty-eight  hours  of  the  intelligence  of  Darcy's  mis 
sion  to  the  capital,  and  early  one  morning,  as  the  Vane 
family  were  sitting  at  the  breakfast  table,  she  was  an 
nounced.  When  Agnes  submitted  her  charming  cheek 
for  Madam's  effusive  kiss,  she  was  blushing  furiously,  and 
the  lady  marked  it  with  an  inward  throb  of  joy.  If  she 
was  thus  strongly  moved  by  the  mother's  embrace,  what 
would  the  conquering  Darcy's  welcome  be !  To  spare  the 
maternal  feelings  for  the  moment,  nothing  was  said  of 
Darcy's  sudden  departure.  He  had  been  gone  twelve  hours 
when  the  mother  entered  her  brother's  door.  The  news 


A  NEW  LOVE. 


399 


was  told  her  by  Mrs.  Vane,  when  the  two  ladies  had  retired 
to  Mrs.  Warchester's  apartment.  She  withstood  the  shock 
with  a  firmness  that  quite  awed  her  timid  kinswoman. 

"  And  Darcy  was  in  town  only  two  days  ?  " 

"  He  came  Wednesday  evening  and  went  Friday 
noon." 

"  Did  you  see  much  of  him  ?  Did  he  spend  much 
time  with  you — with  Agnes  ?  " 

"  Yes,  he  was  here  to  dine,  and  to  breakfast,  and  he 
was  at  a  reception  with  Agnes,  given  by  the  President's 
lady."  Mrs.  Vane  was  ill  at  ease,  and  did  her  best  to 
turn  the  subject  to  other  channels,  but  the  resolute  querist 
kept  her  on  the  rack  until,  finding  it  futile  to  push  the  at 
tempt,  dropped  it,  resolved  to  put  Agnes  in  the  inquisition 
so  soon  as  she  could  get  her  ear  privately.  But  Agnes, 
with  admirable  adroitness,  evaded  the  chances  engineered 
by  Mrs.  Warchester,  who,  however,  felt  quite  re-assured 
that  Darcy  had  said  nothing  during  his  short  stay  to 
break  the  engagement.  The  day  after  her  arrival  Agnes 
went  to  pass  a  few  days  with  Lady  Poultney,  who  was 
holding  great  state  at  the  capital,  her  husband's  rank 
compelling  every  evidence  of  social  concession  from  the 
British  minister  and  his  suite. 

It  was  the  bitterness  of  wormwood  to  the  haughty 
patrician  when  she  learned  that  her  son's  betrothed  was 
under  the  roof  of  the  vulgarian,  but  she  smiled  grimly  in 
the  assurance  that  such  errors  should  not  be  tolerated 
when  the  marriage  knot  was  safely  tied  ! 

Lady  Molly  heard,  with  great  good  humor,  of  her 
enemy's  coming,  and  made  much  of  iheftas  her  rank  gave 
her  in  the  salons  where  she  encountered  Mrs.  Warchester. 
She  was  not  long  in  discerning  Agnes's  secret,  and,  true 
to  her  frank  nature,  taxed  the  maiden  with  it. 

"And  Prince  Darcy,  where  is  he  to  find  rank  and 


400  THE  ALIENS. 

riches  to  satisfy  my  lady,  his  mother  ? "  she  asked  the 
blushing  coquette. 

"  I  don't  think  Darcy  cares  much  for  his  mother's 
preferences  in  the  matter.  If  he  has  a  heart,  I  think  it  was 
given  long  ago  to  some  one  else — at  least,  he  never  seemed 
to  me  much  of  a  lover !  " 

"  Was  it  some  one  else  in  Warchester,  think  ye  ?  " 

"There  was  a  girl  in  Warchester  whose  heart  he  held. 
I  met  her  once  in  the  Holly  Hills,  and  she  showed  that 
she  was  madly  in  love  with  him.  She  went  crazy  after 
that,  and  a  month  or  two  ago  I  saw  in  the  paper  that  she 
mysteriously  disappeared — some  thought  that  she  had 
thrown  herself  in  the  river." 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  you  don't  mean  pretty  Norah 
Boyne,  Dr.  Marbury's  adopted  daughter !  " 

"  Yes,  that  was  the  girl — Norah  ;  she  was  very  pretty, 
and  it  would  be  just  like  such  a  sentimental  fellow  as 
Darcy  to  fall  in  love  with  her." 

"And  that  reminds  me,"  continued  Lady  Molly,  re 
flectively,  "the  British  minister  referred  some  papers  to 
me  Lord  Poultney  a  few  days  ago  concerning  one  Hugh 
Boyne,  who  has  been  awarded  a  claim  in  northern  Mexico. 
He  gives  out  that  he  is  from  Warchester,  and  a  British 
subject.  I  wouldn't  be  surprised  if  it  concerns  Norah 
and  Denny  in  some  way.  Ah,  there  ye  are,  me  Lord  ; 
what  have  you  found  out  about  the  Boyne  claim  ? " 

Lord  Poultney,  who  had  just  entered,  embraced  his 
wife,  and,  seating  himself  comfortably,  said : 

"  My  dear,  it's  quite  like  a  tale  of  Scott.  I  never 
heard  anything  so  romantic.  I  have  seen  Boyne.  His 
papers  are  all  in  good  order.  He  arrived  in  this  country 
over  twenty  years  ago.  He  fell  into  bad  company  in 
Warchester,  and  quitted  the  city.  He  drifted  West  as  far 
as  the  Mississippi ;  went  down  that  stream  with  a  company 


A  NEW  LOVE. 


4OI 


of  what  must  have  been  pirates.  The  party  broke  up, 
and  Boyne  wandered  into  the  Rio  Grande  country,  at 
tached  himself  to  the  Texan  revolutionists,  was  given  im 
mense  tracts  of  land  near  Montaluna,  in  New  Mexico,  by 
a  Spanish  hidalgo  whose  life  he  saved  from  an  Indian  in 
cursion.  Part  of  this  Mexican  grant  turns  out  to  be  silver 
lodes,  and  the  government  has  just  confirmed  him  in  the 
title,  made  out  in  good  form  to  him  from  the  Mexican 
Government." 

Agnes  had  left  the  room  when  Lord  Poultney  entered, 
and  Lady  Molly  said  : 

"  This  Hugh  Boyne  must  be  the  father  of  that  fine  lad 
Denis,  that  you  saw  in  Warchester.  I  hope  so,  for  the 
boy's  sake  ;  he  was  a  manly  fellow." 

"  He  said  something  about  a  family  he  had  left  there, 
but  I  didn't  take  much  interest  in  that,  and  didn't  question 
him.  I  am  to  see  him  again,  however,  and  will  ask  him." 

He  did  see  Hugh  Boyne  again,  and  the  millionaire 
adventurer  learned  of  the  dispersion  of  his  family,  or  at 
least  as  much  as  Lord  Poultney  had  gathered  from  Lady 
Molly,  and  the  stray  talk  that  followed  Denny's  visit.  He 
counseled  Boyne  to  call  on  Mrs.  Warchester,  with  whose 
son  Denny  had  served  in  Mexico,  and  Hugh  at  once  hur 
ried  to  the  Vanes'  house,  where  the  lady  was  stopping. 
It  would  be  hard  to  recognize  in  the  tall,  gray-haired 
stranger  who  presented  himself  to  Mrs.  Warchester,  the 
good-humored,  strapping  young  fellow  who  had  handed 
the  dripping  Darcy  to  his  mother  from  the  canal  nineteen 
years  before.  Though  unadorned  by  the  graces  of  the 
world,  he  sat  soberly  in  the  grandeur  of  the  Vane  mansion, 
and  arose  without  any  sign  of  awkwardness  as  the  lady, 
austere  and  chilling,  advanced  in  stately  solemnity  into 
the  room.  He  waited  until  she  had  sunk  into  a  chair  and 
waved  him  to  a  seat  before  he  said : 


402  THE  ALIENS. 

"  You'll  hardly  be  likely  to  remember  me,  ma'am.  My 
name  is  Boyne.  I  left  Warchester  many  a  year  ago,  in 
great  trouble.  I  went  away  reckless,  and  I  had  it  in  mind 
never  to  put  foot  in  the  place  again,  for  I  was  only  a  curse 
to  all  belonging  to  me.  I  am  told  that  you  know  some 
thing  of  my  family.  All  I  know  is  that  my  poor  wife 
Kate  died  many  a  year  ago,  and  most  of  the  children. 
My  boy  Denis,  I  am  told,  was  with  your  son  in  Mexico, 
and  that  my  little  Norah  was  befriended  by  you — may 
God  bless  you,  ma'am  !  " 

His  voice  broke  down,  and,  as  he  reached  this  point 
and  turned  partly  away,  he  hastily  doubled  an  ample 
handkerchief  of  spotted  red  silk  into  his  moist  eyes.  He 
looked  at  the  grave  face  before  him.  It  had  grown 
strangely  old.  The  lips  were  faded  to  an  ashen  white, 
and  the  eyes  dropped  uneasily  before  the  frank,  grateful 
glow  of  the  other's. 

"  It  was  not  that  I  ever  was  a  bad  man,  ma'am,  but 
everything  went  against  me.  My  brother  James  was  hard 
and  unfriendly  to  me,  and  when  I  quit  Warchester  it  was 
for  the  good  of  my  little  ones,  for  I  thought  I  was  a  dis 
grace  to  them,  God  forgive  me  !  " 

He  was  fairly  sobbing  now,  and  the  stately  figure  was 
no  longer  facing  him ;  she  had  turned  her  head  away,  and 
her  hands  were  moving  restlessly  in  the  folds  of  her  silken 
robe. 

"  But,  though  I  have  borne  great  troubles,  and  had  a 
heavy  heart  in  my  bosom,  God  has  not  turned  his  face 
from  me  in  the  end.  It's  a  long  story,  ma'am,  and  I've 
no  call  to  trouble  you  with  it,  only  you  may  be  pleased  to 
know  that  the  years  have  brought  me  riches — great  riches, 
ma'am,  such  riches  as  I  never  thought  could  come  to  one 
man.  But  it  is  more  luck  than  deserving.  They  have 
come  to  me  through  the  risking  of  a  life  I  never  valued, 


A  NEW  LOVE. 


403 


God  forgive  me,  and  I  think  he  has,  for  now  I  can  live 
to  do  good  all  the  days  of  my  life,  please  God  !  " 

His  voice  was  quite  choked,  but  there  was  a  triumph 
ant  exultation  in  the  idea  of  doing  good  that  welled  out 
with  a  rugged  pathos.  His  listener  had  drawn  farther 
and  farther  into  the  shadow.  Every  word  sounded  in  her 
ears  like  a  menace.  How  dared  this  vagabond,  this  out 
cast,  appear  before  her  ?  How  dared  he  make  his  odious 
life,  in  some  inextricable  sort,  part  of  the  fabric  of  her  ex 
istence  ?  How  dared  he  invoke  God  in  the  loathsome 
scheme  of  his  destiny  ?  How  dared  he  imperil  her 
laboriously-wrought  life-work  by  his  untimely  apparition 
and  intervention  ?  Ah,  if  Darcy  had  been  delayed  a  day ! 
If  he  could  be  even  yet  safely  wed  to  Agnes  before  this 
hideous  temptation  came  to  paralyze  his  purpose ! 

"  Your  story  is  a  very  strange  one,  Mr. — a — Boyne.  I 
myself  know  little  of  your  family,  but  my  nephew,  Mr. 
Marcus  Dunn,  can  give  you  every  information." 

She  rose,  trembling.     Hugh  looked  at  her,  abashed. 

"  I  ask  your  pardon,  ma'am,  if  I  have  made  too  bold. 
I  came  to  you  because  Lord  Poultney  thought  that  may 
be  you  could  tell  me  about  my  little  ones.  I  ask  your 
pardon  again,  ma'am,  and  may  God  bless  you  and  raise 
up  friends  for  you  and  yours,  if  you  ever  need  it,  as  good 
friends  as  you  have  been  to  mine." 

Great  Heaven  !  how  long  must  she  endure  this  tor 
ture  ?  Was  the  vagabond  mocking  her  ?  Would  he 
presently  ask  her  to  restore  Norah  ?  Would  he  rail  at 
her  for  working  that  troubled  brain  into  new  madness  ? 
She  retreated  to  the  folding  doors,  made  a  stately  inclina 
tion,  and,  without  ordering  the  servants  to  show  the  be 
wildered  visitor  out,  disappeared.  Hugh  was  confounded 
and  perplexed.  He  hastened  to  Lord  Poultney,  to  whose 
presence  he  was  admitted,  and  found  my  Lady  Molly 


404  THE  ALIENS. 

there.  He  told  the  story  of  his  reception,  and  asked, 
piteously,  if  he  had  done  wrong. 

"Wrong,  Mr.  Boyne?  certainly  not.  But  you  must 
know  that  Mrs.  Warchester  is  the  proudest  woman  in  the 
three  kingdoms "  (Lady  Molly  was  apt  to  use  her  old 
country  colloquialisms  at  random),  "  and  she  was  acting 
out  her  overbearing  nature.  If  Darcy  had  been  there  he 
would  have  had  hearty  sympathy  for  you.  But  you 
needn't  mind  the  woman !  You'll  find  yourself  the  father 
of  as  fine  a  lad  as  walks  the  streets,  and — "  Lady  Molly 
was  going  to  speak  of  Norah,  but  shrank  from  being  the 
bearer  of  that  sad  tale.  "  When  you  see  Marcus  Dunn,  he 
will  tell  you  everything.  Go  to  him  as  soon  as  you  can." 

Greatly  comforted  by  the  long  talk  that  followed,  and 
adoring  the  honest  woman  for  her  evident  friendliness  to 
Denis,  Hugh  waited  in  Washington  only  long  enough  to 
complete  the  business  of  identification,  and  then  set  out 
for  Warchester. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

A    NEW    LIFE. 

THERE  was  a  diabolism  in  Madame  Warchester's  pre 
cautions  that  fairly  cowed  Byron,  whose  only  thought  had 
been  to  get  Norah  back.  If  she  were  in  the  house,  where 
he  could  look  at  her,  see  her  lovely  eyes,  perhaps  touch 
sacredly  her  golden  hair,  speak  with  her — anything  to 
know  that  no  other  man  was  near  her  ;  that  no  other 
tongue  was  luring  her  artless  love.  But  the  counsels  of 
Darcy's  mother  implied  more  than  this.  The  girl  was  to 
be  kept  from  the  sight  of  strangers.  She  was  to  be  guard- 


A  NEW  LIFE. 


405 


ed  by  a  trustworthy  lad — Hiram,  a  boy  that  Dr.  Marbury 
had  rescued  from  the  Truant  Reformatory,  on  the  verge 
of  madness  from  maltreatment  by  the  keepers :  he  had 
been  confided  to  the  Warchesters  when  Byron  succeeded 
to  the  farm.  This  lad,  a  deformed  youth  of  sixteen  or 
seventeen,  was  instructed  to  sleep  at  Norah's  door.  In 
case  she  became  dangerous,  he  was  provided  with  a  slender 
dog-chain  with  double  padlocks  to  fasten  her  limbs,  for  the 
prevention  of  flight  or  self-hurt,  until  he  could  summon 
assistance. 

Both  Amelia  and  Byron  resented  the  intrusion,  regard 
ing  the  boy  as  a  spy  at  first ;  but  in  the  end,  Byron  saw  the 
necessity  of  a  watcher,  when  Norah  had  attempted  to 
throw  up  the  window  ;  then  he  warned  the  trembling  lit 
tle  jailer  that  if,  by  any  carelessness  of  his,  harm  came  to 
Norah,  he  should  be  sent  back  to  the  tyrants  of  the  Truant 
Home.  The  threat  of  contamination  to  a  Mussulman 
could  not  have  inspired  more  implicit,  dog-like  devotion. 
Hiram,  the  boy,  never  let  the  girl's  movements  escape  him 
an  instant,  day  or  night. 

Amelia,  hovering  over  Norah,  saw  her  eyes  open  lan 
guidly  after  she  had  been  carried  into  the  house  and  placed 
in  the  high-post  bed  where  she  had  slept  most  of  her 
life.  She  stared  curiously  at  the  white  ceiling,  then 
turned  her  head,  and  her  gaze  wandered  over  the  familiar 
objects  in  the  chintz-hung  chamber.  But  there  was  nei 
ther  surprise  nor  recognition  in  the  gentle,  dreamy  glance. 
Even  the  thin,  sharp  visage  of  Amelia,  with  the  malevolent 
glittering  eyes  fixed  upon  her,  aroused  none  of  the  tremor 
they  had  inspired  of  old.  Amelia  had  put  her  on  the  bed 
just  as  she  came,  and  applied  the  homely  remedies  of  the 
country  housewife  to  restore  her.  Norah  uttered  no  cry, 
though  Byron  had  prepared  his  wife  for  an  outbreak  when 
the  captive  came  to  herself.  But  she  was  now  breathing 


4o6  THE  ALIENS. 

softly,  and  apparently  conscious  of  her  surroundings.  She 
lay  still  so  long  that  Amelia  spoke : 

"Are  you  feeling  quite  well,  Norah  ?" 

"  Hush,  he  bade  me  keep  the  secret !  He'll  come  and 
then  he'll  tell !  " 

"  I  don't  understand  you.  Who  told  you  to  keep  the 
secret  ?  What  secret  ? " — and  Amelia  came  close  to  the 
bed  and  looked  at  the  still,  solemn  face. 

"  Ah  no,  the  Morris-men  *  would  work  me  ill  if  the  se 
cret  were  told  before  he  comes.  Then  we'll  have  a  Mor 
ris-dance  on  All-hallow-e'en,  and  wear  the  rosemary  and 
thyme."  She  broke  off  suddenly  and  began  a  low  sub 
dued  chant  recounting  the  joys  of  the  true  love  that  re 
mains  constant.  Amelia  ran  down-stairs  where  Byron  sat 
by  the  fire. 

"  I  do  believe  the  crittur's  crazy,  Byron.  She's  singing 
to  herself,  and  talking  all  sorts  of  wild  nonsense  that  I 
can't  make  head  or  tail  of.  You'd  better  send  for  Dr. 
Banham." 

Byron  had  purposely  kept  out  of  sight  of  Norah.  He 
had  his  own  reasons  for  dreading  the  effect  his  presence 
might  produce  on  Norah's  revival.  But  this  news  was  seri 
ous.  If  true,  the  worst  had  happened,  and  he  looked  for 
ward  to  troublesome  complications.  He  hurried  up  with 
his  wife  and  entered  the  chamber.  Norah's  eyes  met  his 
tranquilly,  but  without  a  gleam  of  recognition. 

"  Norah,  don't  you  know  me  ?     It  is  Byron.  " 

"  The  banshee,  yes — I  know  you  !  You  trail  the  snake- 
wort  on  the  lilies  and  make  them  die  ;  you  make  the  frogs 
screech  in  the  full  of  the  moon,  and  you  rob  true  lovers  of 
their  lasses ;  oh,  yes — I  know  you,  but  I've  the  amulet  that 

*  In  the  folk-lore  of  Ireland  the  Morris-men  are  a  race  of  goblins 
that,  in  the  common  superstition,  haunt  the  woods,  and  play  mischievous 
pranks  to  lovers  who  are  foolish  or  unwise. 


A  NEW  LIFE. 


407 


makes  ye  afeard  :  you  daren't  step  inside  the  moon's  circle 
while  I  am  there." 

She  turned  away  from  him  and  began  her  chant 
again.  With  a  sign  to  Amelia  he  quitted  the  room,  now 
thoroughly  alarmed.  The  doctor  was  at  once  sent  for.  He 
remained  during  the  night,  watching  her  assiduously.  She 
was  perfectly  docile  ;  obeyed  every  command  given  her, 
but  was  clearly  unbalanced.  He  informed  Byron  that,  if 
left  undisturbed  and  humored,  she  would  in  time  recover. 
She  had  met  some  violent  shock,  and  she  would  regain  her 
faculties  by  rest  and  indulgence,  or  by  some  counter  shock, 
which  would  place  her  back  where  the  chains  of  reason 
had  snapped. 

For  weeks  she  maintained  this  attitude  of  unobtrusive 
vagary.  Amelia  gave  her  sewing,  knitting,  and  light  work 
to  distract  her.  She  tried  to  go  out  into  the  fields  at  first, 
but  was  led  back  immediately.  At  night,  when  the  tink 
ling  of  the  cow-bells  sounded  in  the  lane,  she  grew  uneasy, 
and  at  length  Byron  directed  that  she  should  be  allowed  to 
go  among  them.  But  the  deep  snow  and  fierce  blasts 
would  not  permit  this  long,  and  she  was  finally  reconciled 
to  the  house.  She  never  spoke  to  Amelia  and  Byron  un 
less  a  question  was  asked  her.  She  didn't  seem  to  recog 
nize  them  at  all,  and  looked  troubled  when  they  strove  to 
recall  the  past.  When  April  came,  and  the  noisy  chirp 
ing  of  the  robins  sounded  in  the  orchard,  she  was  strange 
ly  stirred.  She  started  from  the  table  where  the  family 
were  at  breakfast,  and  ran  down  into  the  wet  meadow,  be 
fore  Byron  could  arrest  her  flight.  When  he  came  up  to 
her,  she  was  over  her  thin  shoes  in  the  soft  earth,  entreat 
ing  a  red-breast  to  come  to  her. 

The  exposure  threw  her  into  a  fever,  and  toward  even 
ing  she  was  delirious.     Byron  set  out  for  the  doctor,  but 
had  been  gone  only  a  few  moments  when  Amelia  was  star- 
18 


4o8  THE  ALIENS. 

tied  by  sharp  cries  and  a  loud  shriek.  She  hurried  to  the 
sick-chamber,  and  hastily  examined  the  sufferer.  She 
started  with  a  cry  of  horror  !  When  the  doctor  arrived,  a 
half-hour  later,  a  boy  baby  was  wrapped  up  in  the  clothes 
with  the  mother,  who  sat  up  in  the  bed,  murmuring  softly 
and  unintelligibly ! 

Amelia  stopped  her  husband,  as  the  doctor  hurried  up 
to  the  sick-room. 

"  Byron,  what  do  you  think  has  happened  ?  " 

"  My  God,  Amelia,  she  isn't  dead?  " 

"  Worse  than  that — worse  than  that !  There's  a  little 
baby  up  there  !  " 

Byron  shrank  into  a  chair,  nearly  falling  in  his  amaze 
ment. 

"  Good  God !  he  never  could  be  villain  enough  for 
that ! " 

Amelia's  eyes  had  almost  disappeared  under  her  sharp 
brows  as  Byron  fell  into  the  chair,  but  as  he  said  this  an 
indescribable  look,  one  would  have  said  of  relief,  shone  in 
her  face  as  she  asked  eagerly : 

"  He  !     Who  do  you  mean  ;  not  young  Darcy  ?  " 

"  Yes,  the  infernal  coward  !  I'll  have  his  blood,  so 
help  me  God  !  Oh,  the  scoundrel — the  coward  !  No 
wonder  that  old  hell-cat,  his  mother,  wanted  to  get  the 
girl  hidden  \  I'll  make  her  smart !  I'll  make  every  one 
of  the  purse-proud  tribe  dance  to  another  tune  than 
they  have  been  prancing  to  this  many  a  day — damn 
them  ! " 

Sure  enough,  the  next  day  Byron  rode  furiously  to 
Warchester,  and  astonished  the  servants  by  a  brusque 
demand  for  the  lady  of  the  house.  He  listened  incredu 
lously  when  the  lackey  told  him  that  madame  had  set  out 
for  Washington,  and  the  Colonel  had  gone  with  her  as  far 
as  New  York.  He  listened  grimly  to  the  information 


A  NEW  LIFE. 


409 


that  madame  had  gone  to  meet  her  son,  who  was  expected 
home  immediately.  That  was  enough.  Master  Darcy 
would  find  a  warm  welcome  when  he  came  ! 

Byron's  cradle  was  brought  down  from  the  garret,  a 
wondrous  contrivance  of  rockers,  canopy,  and  shining 
posts,  and  the  small,  blue-eyed  baby  was  bestowed  in 
heaps  of  soft  wraps  and  pillows.  Norah  never  let  her 
wondering  eyes  quit  it.  Day  and  night  she  hovered  over 
the  little  morsel  of  pink  and  white,  crooning  soft  melodies 
that  soothed  it  to  sleep.  She  seemed  unconscious  of  her 
condition.  She  met  the  mute  gaze  of  Amelia  with  an 
innocent  assurance  that  fairly  overwhelmed  that  scandal 
ized  matron. 

Byron  had  charged  the  doctor  to  keep  the  event  a  pro 
found  secret.  No  one  knew  of  it  save  the  family,  and 
the  lad  who  had  been  instructed  to  watch  Norah,  and 
never  let  her  go  too  far  without  giving  warning.  Until 
the  birth  of  the  baby,  Amelia  had  shown  no  repugnance 
to  Norah 's  presence,  but  now  she  urged  Byron  to  send  her 
back  to  her  friends,  arguing,  very  justly,  as  Byron  ad 
mitted,  that  her  story  would  be  misunderstood  so  soon  as 
the  neighbors  came  to  know  that  she  was  a  mother  and 
not  a  wife.  Byron  agreed  that,  so  soon  as  Mrs.  War- 
chester  returned,  Norah  should  be  sent  away. 

Mrs.  Warchester  did  not  return  directly  from  Washing 
ton.  She  remained  in  New  York  until  late  in  April. 
When  the  day  for  her  coming  was  made  known,  Amelia, 
who  saw  as  little  of  Norah  as  she  could,  came  to  her 
as  she  sat  cooing  to  the  baby,  and  said,  without  any  pre 
liminaries  : 

"  Norah,  you  are  going  from  here  to-morrow  !  " 

"  Going !  going  where  ?  " 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know ;  to  the  poor-house,  I  sup 
pose.  YOM  can't  expect  to  be  kept  like  a  lady  all  your 


4IQ  THE  ALIENS. 

life.  You'd  better  pack  up  your  things  as  soon  as  you 
can.  They'll  take  you  away  from  here  to-morrow  !  " 

She  turned  and  walked  primly  from  the  room  without 
looking  at  the  terrified  face  she  left  behind  her.  Now,  if 
Amelia  had  racked  her  brain  for  the  most  terrific  threat 
in  the  range  of  human  cruelties,  she  couldn't  have  named 
a  terror  so  overwhelming  as  the  word  "poor-house." 
Even  to  the  unbalanced  mind  of  Norah  this  was  a  reality 
so  dire  that  her  clouded  brain  seized  it  with  all  the  dis 
tinctness  of  a  clear  intellect.  Indeed,  to  a  sound  brain  it 
would  have  been  less  dreadful,  for  her  mind,  filled  with 
gentle  perversions,  immediately  clothed  this  loathed  and 
dreadful  unknown — a  dim  reminder  of  the  terrors  her 
mother  suffered — with  all  the  panoply  of  woe  that  filled 
the  minds  of  those  that  entered  Malebolge.  With  this 
mantle  of  terror  upon  her,  the  craft  of  the  mad  began  to 
work  in  her  brain.  She  must  fly  !  She  must  put  herself  out 
of  reach  of  the  dreadful  men  who  were  coming  to  take  her. 

He  was  somewhere  waiting  for  her.  His  plight  was 
hidden  under  the  acorn-cups  by  the  brook  !  If  she  could 
reach  that,  she  would  be  safe.  No  baleful  spirit  could 
touch  her  there !  All  that  day  she  watched  eagerly.  No, 
there  was  no  chance.  Byron  was  in  the  garden  ;  the  men 
were  trimming  the  orchard. 

All  night  she  sat  awake,  and  watched  by  the  baby's 
cradle.  The  cocks  were  crowing  blithely  in  the  barn-yard 
when  she  fell  into  a  doze.  The  exhaustion  of  terror  held 
her  fast,  and  when  she  awoke  the  sun  was  high,  and  the 
birds  were  piping  melodiously.  She  got  up,  haggard, 
hopeless,  desperate.  Everybody  was  astir.  She  had  al 
lowed  the  morning  to  slip  by,  and  in  the  realization  of  it 
she  sank  sobbing  beside  the  baby's  cradle.  The  little  fel 
low  awoke,  and  set  up  a  faint  cry.  This  distracted  her 
for  the  time,  and  she  soothed  and  fed  him. 


A  NEW  LIFE. 


411 


Every  sound  in  the  lane,  every  step  on  the  stairs,  made 
her  shrink  in  a  panic.  But  noon  came,  and  there  was  no 
sign  of  the  dreaded  keepers.  Alert  to  every  stir  in  the  house 
hold,  Norah  heard  Amelia  telling  Hiram  to  go  to  a  neigh 
bor's  on  an  errand,  and  then,  as  soon  as  dinner  was  done, 
Amelia  put  on  her  straw  hat  and  walked  over  to  neighbor 
Nelson's.  The  men  were  working  in  the  brook-meadow. 
Presently  Byron  came  from  the  barn  with  a  horse  saddled, 
stopped  in  the  kitchen  a  moment,  and  then  rode  off  toward 
Warchester.  The  spy  was  gone  ;  now  was  Norah's  time  ! 
Baby  was  wrapped  warmly,  and,  with  nothing  else  to  impede 
her  flight,  she  stole  down  the  stairs,  and  crept  on  her  knees 
along  the  currant-bushes  in  the  garden  until  she  reached 
the  orchard  ;  here,  hugging  the  thick  alders,  she  was  safe. 

In  ten  minutes  she  was  in  the  beech  woods,  and  she 
could  push  along  fearlessly.  The  sun  had  gone  under 
the  clouds,  but  she  didn't  mind  that — she  was  free  !  The 
birds  sang  to  her  in  welcome.  The  squirrels  ran  along 
the  low  fences,  or  halted  for  friendly  chatter  as  she  came 
close  to  them.  Once  a  great  yellow  butterfly  hovered 
over  baby's  head,  and  she  made  a  gesture  as  one  who  sees 
an  omen.  But  now  she  had  grown  weary,  her  steps  were 
uncertain  and  dragging.  She  sat  down  in  a  little  thicket 
of  dogwood  breaking  into  bud,  and  uncovered  baby's 
head  that  he  might  see  the  birds.  The  place  was  so 
peaceful,  and  the  gray  sky  so  solemn,  that  the  confidence 
she  felt  shone  in  her  face.  As  she  sat  cooing  to  baby,  the 
sharp,  report  of  a  breaking  branch  startled  her.  She 
clasped  the  infant,  and  arose  to  fly.  As  she  gained  her 
feet  Hiram  stood  in  the  path  before  her.  He  had  a  light 
chain  wound  about  his  arm,  with  a  padlock  in  each  hand. 

"  Well,  Norah,  you  have  taken  a  pretty  long  walk ; 
isn't  it  time  to  come  back  ?  The  folks  will  be  wondering 
what  has  become  of  you  !  " 


412  THE  ALIENS. 

She  looked  at  him  with  heaving  bosom  and  wide  star 
ing  eyes,  but  made  no  answer. 

"  Come,  Norah,  it'll  be  night  by-and-by,  and  we  must 
hurry  and  get  home  before  the  folks  get  back.  They 
won't  like  it  if  they  find  you've  gone  so  far  away;  come, 
let's  go  !  " 

He  made  a  step  toward  her  as  if  to  take  her  arm. 
She  bent  over  suddenly  ;  there  was  a  large  flat  stone  at 
her  feet ;  this  she  picked  up,  holding  the  baby  with  her 
left  arm.  Madness,  rage,  desperation  were  in  the  eyes 
that  had  never  been  seen  ungentle  before. 

"  Don't  come  near  me  !  leave  me,  or  I'll  beat  your 
head  with  this."  She  lifted  it  high  above  her  head,  and 
the  lad  started  back  in  terror.  He  turned  at  a  safe  dis 
tance  ;  she  stood  there  confronting  him,  and  as  he  halted, 
made  a  step  toward  him,  and  he  fled  still  further.  While 
his  back  was  turned,  she  darted  into  the  bushes,  dropped 
the  stone  in  a  soft  bed  of  moss,  and  fled  with  the  fleetness 
of  an  Indian,  for  she  was  well  used  to  penetrating  the 
thickets.  Hiram,  trembling  lest  he  should  lose  her,  and 
quite  as  terrified  to  come  near  her,  followed,  keeping 
track  of  her  movements  by  the  breaking  of  the  twigs,  and 
sometimes  catching  a  glimpse  of  her  as  she  emerged  into 
the  clear  fields.  He  had  not  seen  her  quit  the  house,  but 
discovered  the  gray  shawl  against  the  alder  bushes.  He 
knew  there  was  no  one  in  the  house,  and  Byron  had 
cautioned  him  not  to  lose  sight  of  her  when  she  left  her 
room ;  so  he  followed,  hoping  to  meet  somebody  who 
would  aid  him  to  keep  her  until  he  could  go  back  and 
fetch  help. 

She  kept  on  with  amazing  endurance.  Sometimes  he 
lost  sight  of  her,  and  then  he  came  upon  her  seated  in 
covert ;  but  he  kept  out  of  reach  and  hearing.  The  gray 
sky  grew  overcast  with  threatening  clouds,  and  he  knew 


A  NEW  LIFE. 


413 


that  rain  must  come  soon.  She  seemed  to  know  the  way, 
for  she  avoided  the  vicinity  of  houses,  and  pursued  wide 
circles  to  Warchester  and  the  neighborhood  of  the  Holly 
Hills. 

Low  rumbling  thunder  broke  on  the  air,  and  flashes  of 
lightning  glared  through  the  somber  branches  of  bare 
chestnuts  and  oaks.  It  was  almost  twilight  when  the 
pursuit  brought  him  to  the  brook  that  flows  into  the  river 
below  the  Holly  Hills.  He  could  see  Norah  quite  plainly 
as  she  came  into  the  pretty  glen,  where  a  small  boat-shed 
protected  a  little  wherry  used  by  the  Warchesters  in  cross 
ing  the  narrow  stream.  She  seemed  to  know  the  place 
well,  for  instantly  she  removed  a  stone  from  a  wilderness 
of  plants,  and  eagerly  groped  about.  In  the  vivid  flashes 
he  saw  her  slip  something  in  her  bosom,  and  then  lay  the 
baby  down  on  a  mossy  knoll.  Then  she  disappeared  an 
instant,  and  as  he  came  in  sight  of  her  she  was  plucking 
trailing  vines  and  mosses,  and  when  she  had  her  arms  full 
she  spread  her  shawl,  and  sat  down  beside  the  baby, 
winding  the  tendrils  about  his  neck  and  arms. 

But  they  were  cold,  for  he  began  a  feeble  cry.  Then 
she  took  her  shawl  and  covered  him  with  it,  murmuring 
words  unintelligible  to  the  astonished  listener.  Presently 
large  drops  of  rain  fell,  and,  looking  about  her,  she  picked 
the  child  up  and  stepped  into  the  boat.  It  was  fastened 
to  a  staple,  the  three  planks  jutting  out  just  far  enough  to 
cover  it.  She  slipped  the  baby  under  the  tiller  seat,  and 
laid  herself  down,  covering  herself  with  the  shawl.  From 
her  shuddering  starts  Hiram  could  see  that  the  lightning 
terrified  her.  As  the  flashes  became  more  lurid,  and  the 
detonations  fiercer,  she  crouched  in  the  end  of  the  boat 
with  her  head  muffled. 

This  was  the  watcher's  chance  !  Crawling  over  the 
mossy  bank,  he  reached  the  boat ;  the  chain  had  been 


414  THE  ALIENS. 

provided  for  manacling,  and  in  the  darkness  he  seized  her 
elbow,  and  before  she  could  rise  or  shake  him  off,  the 
clasp,  closing  with  a  snap,  was  on  her  arm  above  the 
elbow,  and  the  end  fastened  to  the  staple  in  the  bow  of 
the  boat. 

She  broke  into  a  hoarse  scream,  but  baby  setting  up  a 
lusty  plaint,  she  stopped  and  turned  to  soothe  it. 

"  Don't  be  frightened,  Norah  ;  no  one  is  going  to  harm 
you.  Just  stay  quiet  in  the  boat.  I  will  be  back  soon 
with  a  wagon  to  take  you  back."  And  Hiram,  elate  with 
his  master-stroke,  set  off  for  the  nearest  house  to  summon 
aid. 

He  sped  swiftly  toward  the  tall  chimneys  of  the  War- 
chester  mansion  he  had  remarked  before  the  twilight 
darkened  into  the  early  night  that  the  storm  hastened. 
He  reached  the  stables,  and  saw  a  light  inside.  Shouting 
to  attract  attention,  one  of  the  stable  lads  came  to  the 
door  and  held  up  a  lantern,  peering  over  the  boy's  head. 

"  Wat  is  it  ?  w'at  yer  want,  sonny  ? "  the  man  asked,  in 
tipsy  wonder.  "  Come  in  outer  rain  ;  come  in,  blast  yer ! 
Don't  you  see  I  am  getting  wet,  and  the  whisky's  a'most 
gone ! " 

He  laughed  tipsily,  and  pulled  the  terrified  boy  in. 

"  Ain't  ye  got  no  mouth,  eh  ? — speak  up,  damn  it  all ! 
Ye's  among  folks  now,  and  can  say  all  ye  like,  if  ye  don't 
drink  too  much." 

As  this  jocose  period  ended,  the  rain  made  such  an  up 
roar  on  the  roof  that  Hiram  could  hardly  distinguish  an 
other  tipsy  voice  in  the  din  and  darkness. 

"  Aren't  ye  ever  comin'  back,  Jake,  I  say  ?  I  want 
another  swig." 

Seated  on  wheat-sacks  ranged  beside  an  improvised 
table,  the  second  man  held  a  handful  of  cards,  his  body 
swaying  to  and  fro  as  Jake  resumed  his  place.  Reminded 


A  NEW  LIFE.  415 

of  his  mission,  Hiram  told  of  the  girl  in  the  boat,  and  the 
need  of  taking  her  to  shelter.  The  men,  intent  on  sharing 
the  contents  of  a  flask  secreted  between  the  sacks,  leered 
solemnly  at  the  lad,  and  Jake  said  : 

"  Foolish  girl ;  oughtn't  to  go  out  in  rain.  Better  go 
home  to  her  mammy,  eh  ?  " 

This  started  a  shout  of  laughter  from  his  companion, 
and  the  two  fell  to  playing  cards  again,  unmindful  of  Hi 
ram.  He  slunk  toward  the  door,  and  essayed  to  open  it; 
but  the  wind  held  it  firmly,  and  whistled  through  the 
aperture  his  feeble  efforts  made. 

"  I  say,  sonny,  if  you  don't  let  that  door  alone  I'll  lock 
you  up  in  the  loft." 

Hiram  retreated  in  terror,  and  sat  down  cowering  on  a 
sack.  What  would  become  of  Norah  ?  He  waited  in  a 
fever,  the  time  seeming  much  longer  than  it  really  was. 
In  a  few  minutes  the  rain  seemed  to  have  ceased.  The 
men  were  interrupted  in  their  maudlin  game  by  a  clat 
ter  outside  the  stable-door  and  the  tramping  of  horses ; 
the  door  was  flung  open  and  a  voice  cried  : 

"  Hey  there  you,  Jake  !  Muster  Darcy's  come  back  and 
wants  these  horses  warmed  up  and  blanketed." 

Hiram  darted  from  the  open  door  and  fled  toward  the 
house  ;  the  hall-door  stood  open  and  he  heard  voices. 

"  No,  Mr.  Darcy,  Madam  Warchester  and  your  father 
are  in  New  York  ;  we  expect  them  every  day.  Indeed, 
when  you  came,  we  thought  it  was  your  mother  and  the 
Colonel !  " 

"  Very  well,  Mrs.  Reed,  prepare  my  room  ;  I  have  busi 
ness  down  street,  and  will  be  back  in  an  hour  or  two  !  " 

Hiram  darted  up  the  steps  crying  :  "  O  Mr.  Darcy,  the 
young  girl  that  your  mother  told  me  to  watch  over  is  down 
at  the  Holly  Creek  boat-house  and — and — " 

"  What  girl,  my  boy — what  do  you  mean  ?  " 


41 6  THE  ALIENS. 

"  The  girl  that  lived  at  Marbury,  Norah — " 

"What?" 

The  tone  was  so  fierce,  and  the  movement  so  threaten 
ing,  that  Hiram  darted  back,  thinking  all  the  world  had 
gone  mad.  When  Darcy  had  re-assured  him,  he  told  of 
Norah's  plight,  and  besought  the  young  man  to  set  out 
with  him  to  the  rescue,  for  there  was  no  knowing  what 
might  befall  the  poor  girl. 

Darcy  listened  in  dumb  horror  and  despair.  He  had 
been  turned  back  from  the  journey  to  Mexico  by  the  merest 
chance.  An  order  recalling  him  had  come  into  his  hands 
just  as  he  was  taking  ship.  He  had  at  first  determined  to 
pursue  his  journey  to  his  regiment,  but  suddenly  he  was 
seized  by  an  unconquerable  desire  to  set  his  eyes  upon  his 
home  ;  to  see  how  it  fared  with  Norah.  His  soul  had 
been  torn  with  anguish  when  he  thought  of  her.  He  had 
a  vague  purpose  to  come  home  and  carry  her  off  to  the 
lovely  Southern  lands  he  had  been  campaigning  in.  There, 
far  from  the  sordid  ambitions  of  his  family  and  the  hol 
low  pretenses  of  civilization,  he  would  undo  the  hateful 
wrong  he  had  done  ;  he  would  make  her  his  wife  before 
the  law,  as  in  the  tumult  of  his  passion  he  had  made  her 
before  God. 

\Vhat  infinite  mockery  were  all  his  hopes  and  his  moth 
er's  ambitions,  compared  to  the  happiness  of  this  innocent 
child,  wronged  with  such  dastard  wrong  by  him  who  should 
have  been  first  to  safeguard  and  shield  her !  He  had  been 
a  miserable  man  since  the  day  of  that  wicked  wrong-do 
ing,  and  the  misery  of  it  had  made  him  long  for  death, 
when  Denny's  innocent  hand  came  between,  to  prolong  the 
vengeance  of  outraged  honor. 

But  now  Norah  was  living — Norah  was  in  distress — 
Norah  was  near  him.  He  need  not  even  be  seen  in  War- 
chester.  He  could  go  to  the  rendezvous  she  had  uncon- 


NORAH  REACHES  HOME, 


417 


sciously  given,  take  her  in  his  arms,  and  fly  to  seclusion 
and  restitution.  He  need  no  longer  shrink  from  his  moth 
er's  eye.  He  need  no  longer  quail  when  Denny  looked  the 
adoration  of  loyalty  and  innocence  in  his  averted  eyes  ! 

Hiram  was  feebly  awestruck  by  the  vivacity  that  came 
into  Master  Darcy's  manner.  The  young  man  had  the  air 
of  a  lover  summoned  to  the  tryst.  He  hurried  to  the 
stables,  ordered  the  men  to  prepare  the  saddle-horses,  and 
to  make  no  mention  to  any  one  that  their  young  master 
had  returned.  He  would  call  for  the  horses  in  an  hour  or 
two,  and,  until  he  returned,  no  one  was  to  leave  the  stable. 

He  knew  the  spot  Hiram  described  very  well.  It  was 
near  by  that  Norah  had  gone  through  the  fairy  ritual  the 
very  day  he  bade  adieu  to  conscience  and  honor.  He 
knew  a  short  path,  and  could  be  with  the  victim  in  ten 
minutes.  Forgetting  Hiram,  who  skurried  after  him  unseen, 
Darcy  set  out  through  the  dripping  foliage,  and  with  eager 
steps  flew  toward  the  ford. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

NORAH    REACHES   HOME. 

MEANWHILE,  alone  in  the  night  and  the  storm,  Norah 
is  solving  Darcy's  problems  decisively  and  unexpectedly. 
In  her  weary  brain  there  is  but  one  picture  ;  in  her  ears 
but  one  threat. 

"Take  her  back."  That  was  all  that  Norah  under 
stood  of  Hiram's  speech  as  he  chained  her.  Take  her 
back !  In  her  wild  brain  that  meant  the  unknown,  and 
therefore  the  terrible.  The  agonized  cry  that  broke  from 
her  arrested  the  stumbling  steps  of  the  boy,  perplexed  by 


41 8  THE  ALIENS. 

the  darkness  and  the  strange  place.  He  turned  to  go 
back  ;  the  echoes  froze  his  blood.  When  he  came  to  the 
water's  edge  he  heard  a  panting,  gasping  sound,  as  of  one 
in  a  death  agony.  Then  an  ominous  grating  and  wrench 
ing.  He  turned  in  affright,  and  plunged  through  the 
thicket. 

Norah,  with  bleeding  hands  and  maniac  desperation, 
tugged  at  the  chain,  but  it  was  firm  and  resisted  her  fren 
zied  wrenching.  Worn  out,  her  hands  torn  and  bleeding, 
the  night-chill  freezing  her  uncovered  neck  and  arms,  she 
sunk  limply  into  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  her  arm  held 
tightly  in  the  iron  clasp.  Her  terror  of  the  lightning  was 
forgotten.  She  looked  with  wide,  unshrinking  eyes  about 
her  as  the  blinding  flashes  followed  each  other  swiftly. 
Ah !  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  lies  a  dull,  notched  hatchet. 
She  sees  it  in  the  sudden  glare.  This  she  seizes;  she 
knows  the  boat  well.  The  chain  is  fastened  by  a  rusty 
hasp  to  a  post  on  the  shore.  One  wrench  with  the  handle 
as  a  lever,  and  the  chain  falls  with  a  protesting,  lingering 
rattle  into  the  water,  and  the  heavy  hatchet  descends  on 
the  frail  planking. 

"  Ah  !  now  they  shall  not  take  us  back.  Now  we  are 
in  running  water.  Now  we  are  free  !  " 

She  pushes  the  little  craft  from  the  bank  ;  it  slides  slowly 
out  into  the  narrow  stream,  and,  the  current  catching  it, 
in  a  moment  it  is  gliding  softly  between  the  dark  shadows 
toward  the  river.  Kneeling  on  the  stern,  with  her  hand 
on  baby's  breast,  Norah  prayed  in  a  voice  that  men  near 
the  creek  recalled  for  many  a  day,  freeing  her  sad,  troubled 
heart  in  a  rhythmic  plaint  that  might  have  been  a  Druid 
priestess's  death  chant. 

There  was  but  one  oar  in  the  boat,  and  that  a  broken 
one.  It  drifted  down  the  broadening  stream  into  the 
river.  Into  the  river  ?  Yes,  Norah  was  free  now  !  What 


NORAH  REACHES  HOME. 


419 


that  meant  to  her  poor  weary  brain,  to  her  bleeding  heart, 
it  is  hard  to  say ;  for,  if  she  had  still  the  power  of  reason 
ing,  she  must  have  known  that  an  oarless  boat  in  the  river 
meant  the  cataract !  But  she  sat  quite  still.  The  boat 
man  at  the  bend  saw  the  frail  craft,  and  thought  some  ad 
venturous  fisherman  at  work,  the  figure  sat  so  immovable. 

The  boat  was  beginning  to  feel  the  movement  of  the 
current  that  sets  over  the  upper  dam  when  he  saw  it  through 
flames  of  forked  lightning.  She  stoops  down  to  see  if  baby 
is  at  peace  under  the  tiller-seat.  Heavens  !  water  is  gur 
gling  in  on  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  for,  when  she  let  the 
hatchet  fall,  it  had  cut  through  the  thin  timbers.  Now  a 
full  realization  of  mortal  peril  came  upon  the  poor  troubled 
brain.  She  seized  the  broken  oar,  and,  with  the  strength 
of  frenzy,  paddled  the  boat  toward  a  pretty  overhanging 
rock,  where  reeds  and  lilies  grew  in  rank  clusters,  where 
the  stream,  though  swift,  was  shallow.  It  was  a  long, 
exhausting  effort,  but  they  were  not  yet  safe.  Slipping 
from  the  boat  into  the  water,  she  essayed  to  drag  it  nearer 
shore,  her  poor  limbs  torn  by  the  rocks,  and  her  feet 
bruised  by  the  sharp  pebbles.  But  the  current  was  strong 
even  here.  If  she  could  move  nearer  shore,  and  reach  the 
low  sandy  bank,  she  could  take  baby  out  and  reach  the 
solid  land  ;  but  that  was  far  off  in  the  dimness  of  the  night, 
and  every  moment  the  force  of  the  current  increased  as  the 
boat  neared  the  cascades. 

Far  in  the  black  night,  outlined  against  the  blacker  sky, 
the  specter  of  a  line  of  giants  arises  before  her — stakes  left 
by  the  workmen  repairing  the  dam.  If  she  could  but  run 
the  craft  against  one  of  these,  there  would  be  no  further 
clanger  of  being  swept  down  to  the  falls  !  Now  she  could 
hold  up  no  longer ;  the  water  grew  swifter,  and  kept  her  from 
the  shore.  Ah  !  she  has  lost  her  footing,  the  boat  careens, 
and  baby  sets  up  a  piteous  wail.  She  clutches  desperately, 


420  THE  ALIENS. 

but  the  boat  alone  holds  her  up  now.  It  is  half  filled  with 
water,  and  sags  far  to  one  side.  She  tries  to  shriek  ;  the 
water  fills  her  mouth.  She  recognizes  the  dark  outlines 
on  the  distant  shore ;  the  boat  is  just  abreast  a  deep  cove 
that  indents  the  bank.  Oh,  if  she  could  only  regain  her 
footing  long  enough,  all  would  be  well.  Ah  !  God  be 
praised  !  though  the  water  is  up  to  her  arm-pits,  she  feels 
the  blessed  bowlders  again  under  her  torn  feet ;  she  holds 
the  stern  up  while  prow  sags  under. 

"Ah,  baby,  be  peaceful,  and  don't  distract  me  now! 
The  good  God  has  held  out  his  hand !  " 

Yes,  the  good  God  had  mercifully  stretched  out  his 
hand.  In  an  instant  the  circling  eddies  carried  the  stern 
shoreward,  and  the  mother,  with  a  tight  clutch  on  the  rud 
der,  is  dragged  after  it.  But  presently  the  clutch  relaxes. 
On  the  shore  a  man,  walking  under  the  black  sky,  starts 
as  a  long  gurgling  cry  seems  to  smite  the  night  from  the 
sullen  river.  The  chain  alone  holds  the  mother  to  the 
support  of  her  child  ;  but  the  chain,  that  is  so  fragile  that 
human  eyes  can  not  see  it,  so  strong  that  Infinite  might 
alone  can  uphold  it,  has  snapped  !  The  moon,  that  pres 
ently  emerged  from  the  sodden  clouds,  shone  down  on  the 
skiff  swaying  slowly  in  the  eddying  circles  of  the  little  bay, 
anchored  to  the  dead  mother  whose  solemn  eyes  looked 
up  peacefully  through  the  pellucid  waters,  and  seemed  to 
shine  with  the  ineffable  light  of  those  who  die  in  the  gentle 
hardihood  of  unspotted  innocence. 

It  is  not,  I  think,  for  me  to  further  point  the  moral  of 
this  sweet,  solemn  life.  While  my  pen  traces  these  lines,  the 
lovely  face  rises  before  me,  as  you  see  the  sad  maid-mother 
in  the  temple  of  a  divine,  an  immemorial  worship — a  Mu- 
rillo  adored  and  wrought  it  out  in  love  and  reverence.  As 
that  face  shines  out  in  memory,  through  the  aromatic  in- 


NORAH  REACHES  HOME. 


421 


cense  of  the  great  temple,  in  a  fantastic,  troubled  way,  I 
confuse  the  two,  or  rather  identify  them. 

Well,  it  is  not  the  time  to  moralize ;  if  the  tale  has  been 
set  down  in  just  measure,  no  moralizing  is  needed,  and  we 
must  hasten  on  to  the  sequel  of  mingled  melancholy  and 
merry-making. 

In  the  first  hour  of  dawn  a  long,  thin  flame  of  scarlet 
tipped  the  waters  of  the  Caribee,  and  an  early  fisherman, 
adjusting  his  line,  heard  a  cry  that  he  took  at  first  for  a 
cat-bird.  But  the  wail  rose,  and  was  full  of  the  vitality  of 
human  pain.  He  turned  toward  the  tall  reeds,  and  looked 
along  the  face  of  the  blushing  waters.  A  dark  line,  as  of 
a  sunken  skiff,  broke  the  curve  of  the  roseate  ripples.  He 
reached  it  with  a  few  strokes.  The  stern  of  the  boat  was 
tilted  in  the  air  ;  the  bow  seemed  anchored.  The  cry 
came  from  the  box  under  the  stern-seat.  He  had  to  break 
the  frail  hasp,  for  it  was  locked.  He  turned  the  slat 
back ;  a  baby,  swathed  in  flannel,  blinded  by  the  sudden 
glare,  doubled  its  little  fists  and  stared  peacefully  into  the 
astonished  face.  He  lifted  it  carefully,  and  ran  to  the 
nearest  house.  This  happened  to  be  Denny's  cottage,  and 
Larry  was  in  the  little  garden,  spading.  He  took  the  baby, 
wondering,  and  carried  it  to  Aunt  Selina.  She  did  not  at 
first  remark  the  little  one's  wraps,  but,  when  the  babe  had 
been  properly  cared  for,  as  only  a  mother  knows  how  to 
act  in  such  an  emergency,  she  examined  the  clothing,  and 
her  eye  fell  upon  the  shawl.  She  uttered  a  faint  cry. 

"  Why,  Larry,  these  are  Norah's  ;  I  have  seen  them  on 
her.  I  helped  her  make  them.  Where,  oh,  where  did  the 
man  say  this  child  was  found  ?  " 

The  man  was  in  the  kitchen,  regaling  himself  with  a 
bowl  of  fresh  milk,  and  he  told  the  story  over  again. 

In  agitation,  Larry  hurried  to  the  water  and  rowed  to 
the  half-submerged  skiff.  It  was  still  securely  anchored, 


422  THE  ALIENS. 

and  the  fisherman  suggested  cutting  the  rope  ;  but  as  he 
slipped  his  hand  down  into  the  water  the  line  was  found  to 
be  a  chain.  He  pulled  vigorously,  but  it  was  more  than  he 
could  draw  alone.  Larry  leaned  over  the  boat's  edge,  and 
peered  down  among  the  tangled  flora  of  the  river-bed.  He 
started  with  a  ghastly  cry. 

"There  is  a  dead  man  there  ;  I  see  his  eyes — look  ! " 

Sure  enough,  folded  in  a  filmy  sheet  of  soft  green,  the 
outlines  of  a  pale  face  could  be  seen,  two  wide-open  eyes 
staring  tranquilly  upward  !  There  was  a  broken  pile  that 
rose  almost  to  the  surface  of  the  water — the  cove  had  once 
been  surveyed  for  a  landing.  The  sunken  end  of  the  boat 
rested  on  this,  and  the  body  was  in  some  sort  fastened  to 
the  slender  shaft.  The  water  is  not  deep,  and  Larry, 
throwing  off  his  coat,  slips  in  at  the  sunken  boat's  bow.  A 
slender  chain  bruises  his  ankles.  As  he  steps  further,  he 
sinks  to  his  middle,  and  something  sways  against  him  that 
sends  the  blood  curdling  through  his  veins. 

"  Give  me  a  hook  ! "  he  cries  hoarsely.  He  lifts  the 
chained  arm  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  then  almost 
drops  it  as  the  outlines  of  a  white  bosom  gleam  just  below 
the  surface.  A  streaming  veil  of  hair  covers  the  face  ; 
both  hands  are  clenched  on  the  chain  that  falls  from  the 
boat.  It  is  as  much  as  both  the  strong  men  can  do  to 
lift  the  body,  and  when  it  is  laid  in  the  boat  Larry's  com 
panion  says : 

"  She  must  have  got  out  of  the  boat  and  passed  around 
the  sunken  stake  to  anchor  the  craft.  Ef  the  water  hadn't 
been  deeper  here  than  anywhere  else,  she  could  have 
managed  it  without  losing  her  life.  She  gave  her  life  for 
the  little  one." 

The  cruel  chain  had  cut  into  the  tender  flesh,  but  the 
water  had  washed  away  all  traces  of  blood.  While  the 
other  rowed  the  boat  to  shore,  Larry  readily  broke  the 


NORAH  REACHES  HOME, 


423 


chain,  and  when  they  touched  the  bank,  he  picked  the 
body  up  and  flew  to  the  cottage.  He  laid  his  burden 
down  an  instant  to  recover  breath.  As  he  did  so  the  door 
opened,  and  Aunt  Selina  asked  eagerly  : 

' '  Where  is  she — where  is  she  ?  O  Larry,  why  didn't 
you  find  her — don't  you  know  ?  " 

As  she  spoke,  Larry  had  pulled  her  gently  from  the 
door  and  pointed  to  the  dark  mass  lying  on  the  veranda 
floor.  To  his  amazement,  Aunt  Selina  broke  from  him 
and  bent  over  the  body  with  loud  cries. 

"  Ah,  Norah — Norah — is  this  the  way  you  come  to  me  ? 
Ah,  Norah — speak  to  me  !  It  is  your  old  aunty !  It  is 
your  mother  !  Ah  me — ah — ah !  " 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  Aunt  Selina,  what  do  you 
mean  ? "  Larry,  bending  down,  picked  up  the  body  and, 
uncovering  the  face,  reeled  against  the  door. 

"  Put  her  on  the  bed,  Larry,  and  run  for  the  doctor, 
and  I  will  do  everything  else  ;  she  may  not  be  dead — we 
may  save  her  !  " 

The  fisherman  broke  the  iron  clasp  with  a  chisel,  and 
Aunt  Selina,  making  use  of  him  to  bring  her  hot  water, 
disrobed  the  cold  form  and  applied  every  remedy  she 
knew  to  the  end  of  resuscitation.  When  the  doctor  came, 
twenty  minutes  later,  he  pronounced  all  efforts  useless. 
She  had  been  dead  many  hours.  In  his  wrath  and  grief 
Larry  could  hardly  be  restrained  from  doing  violence  to 
the  fisherman,  whose  slowness  he  blamed  for  the  death. 
It  took  all  of  Aunt  Selina's  pleadings  to  keep  him  from 
killing  the  "  murderer,"  as  he  called  the  frightened  dis 
coverer  of  this  piteous  handiwork. 

The  baby  puzzled  Aunt  Selina.  What  could  it  mean  ? 
Why  should  it  be  wrapped  in  Norah's  belongings  ?  How 
came  Norah  in  the  boat  before  her  own  door?  Had 
Dunn  any  knowledge  of  her  movements  ? 


424 


THE  ALIENS. 


At  noon,  as  Larry  lay  prone  upon  the  floor,  moaning  in 
helpless  rage  and  anguish,  a  horseman  rode  furiously  up 
to  the  very  threshold.  His  clothes  were  muddy  ;  his  eyes 
haggard  ;  his  voice  thick  and  imperative. 

"  O  Byron,  my  son,"  cried  Aunt  Selina,  starting. 

"  Mother,  where's  Norah  ?  Was  it  you  who  lured  her 
from  me  ?  Was  it  you  who  carried  her  from  Marbury  ? 
Don't  trifle  with  me  !  I  have  ridden  the  fields  all  night, 
and  I'm  not  in  humor  for  silly  tales  ! " 

"  O  Byron,  my  son,  lower  your  voice  ;  still  the  evil 
rage  of  your  soul ;  look,  there  is  Norah  !  " 

She  had  led  him  through  the  narrow  doorway  to  the 
little  parlor,  where  the  pale,  dead  face  laid  peaceful  and 
smiling  on  the  pillow. 

"  Dead  !  my  God,  dead  !  What  have  I  done  ?  It  is 
murder !  I  swear,  it  is  murder !  Yesterday  so  fair,  so 
strong,  in  her  room  at  Marbury,  and  now,  dead !  It  is 
murder  !  do  you  hear  me,  mother,  it  is  murder !  and  that 
villain,  that  black-hearted  son  of  the  Warchesters,  did  it !  " 

Byron  fell  in  the  chair  in  a  paroxysm  of  blasphemous 
execration  that  terrified  the  mother  and  even  aroused 
Larry  to  attention.  An  awful  fear  had  begun  to  freeze 
the  current  of  Aunt  Selina's  blood.  The  shadow  of  an 
odious  deed,  the  miserable  memory  of  things  she  had  seen 
at  Marbury.  She  shrunk  from  her  son  in  terror  !  She 
believed  his  presence  in  the  sacred  chamber  desecration, 
and,  laying  a  shaking  hand  upon  his  shoulder,  she  said, 
tremulously  : 

"  Come,  Byron,  this  is  no  place  for  you.  Let  the  poor 
brother  be  alone  with  his  dead !  "  She  took  him  by  the 
arm  and  led  him  from  the  room,  closing  the  door  behind 
her. 

"  Now,  Byron,  my  son,  you  were  never  base  or  cruel ; 
tell  me  what  all  this  means.  How  the  poor  child,  twice 


NO  RAH  REACHES  HOME.  425 

dead  to  us,  came  into  your  keeping,  and  came  from  your 
hands  a  corpse  ? " 

"  From  my  heart,  mother,  when  she  quit  me  she  was  as 
well  and  as  strong  as  she  ever  was  !  I  don't  understand 
you  ! " 

"  My  son,  she  fled  from  Marbury  once  before.  It  was 
not  to  escape  Amelia's  shrewish  tongue.  It  was  to  escape 
what,  to  her  pure  nature,  was  worse  than  all  forms  of  suf 
fering  the  God-fearing  are  called  on  to  endure.  She  was 
drowned,  she  was  chained  to  the  boat !  Who  chained 
her  ?  Some  one  who  had  worse  to  conceal ;  was  it  you, 
oh,  my  son  ?  I  have  borne  miseries,  I  have  had  my  old 
heart  wrenched  within  the  last  few  hours  as  I  never  be 
lieved  it  could  be  wrenched  and  remain  in  my  body,  but 
all  I  have  suffered  is  the  mercy  of  heaven  compared 
to  the  agony  of  the  doubt  your  words  leave  in  my 
mind  ! " 

She  fell  on  her  knees  and  raised  her  hands. 

"My  son,  by  your  father's  grave,  answer:  Did  you 
wrong  Norah  ?  " 

"  Ah,  mother,  before  God,  this  is  not  true !  " 

Then  he  poured  out  the  story  of  Mrs.  Warchester's 
coming ;  her  plea  that  Norah  would  come  to  ruin  at  the 
hands  of  her  son.  Here  he  choked,  and  then  went  on  to 
the  miserable  end. 

Now  the  baby  was  no  longer  a  mystery  to  Aunt  Selina. 
She  was  doubly  relieved,  for  the  doubt  that  had  filled  her 
soul  with  death  had  been  worse  than  Norah's  loss.  She 
kissed  Byron  when  the  tale  came  to  an  end,  and  said 
solemnly  : 

"  I  thank  God  with  a  contrite  heart  that  the  sin  of  the 
hapless  child's  murder  is  not  on  our  hands,  and  I  hope 
that  you  may  be  forgiven  for  the  instrumentality  you  have 
been  in  her  persecution.  She  knew  little  joy  in  her  blame- 


426  THE  ALIENS, 

less  life,  poor  child,  and,  dreadful  as  the  end  is,  we  may 
take  comfort  in  the  thought  that  it  was  under  our  roof  she 
first  knew  happiness,  in  our  hearts  she  first  found  tender 
ness,  and  in  our  love  she  was  as  our  very  own  flesh  and 
blood." 

The  sunlight  broke  through  the  windows  in  crimson 
banners  as  they  once  more  entered  the  little  room.  Mother 
and  son  knelt  at  the  bed  of  death,  and  the  violet  eyes  of 
the  dead,  wide  open,  seemed  from  their  limpid,  untroubled 
depths  to  reflect  grace,  mercy,  and  peace  upon  their  troub 
led  hearts. 

It  seemed  quite  natural,  to  the  mourning  group  that 
sat  bewildered  in  the  cottage,  that  Marcus  Dunn  should 
take  upon  himself  the  burden  of  the  dead.  He  had  heard 
the  awful  story,  and  hurried  to  the  cottage  incredulous, 
but  fearful.  Yes,  there  she  was,  peaceful,  tranquil,  and, 
oh  !  so  beautiful.  He  doubted  if  the  tender  soul  were 
ever  fitted  for  the  world's  hard  ways  and  obtruding  cares. 
He  could  hardly  believe  the  gentle  heart  was  not  beating, 
and  its  impulses  mirrored,  living  and  loving,  in  the  radiant 
eyes  so  wide  open  and  dove-like.  He  gazed  into  them, 
and  saw  the  fearlessness  of  her  soul's  purity.  As  he  leaned 
over  the  dead,  Aunt  Selina  came  in.  She  had  long  before 
penetrated  his  secret.  She  held  out  a  small  silken  amulet 
that  had  been  found  on  Norah's  bosom  attached  to  a 
ribbon  around  her  neck.  She  explained  this,  and  said  : 

"  There  is  a  bit  of  writing  in  it." 

"  Writing,  Mrs.  Marbury  ?  " 

"Yes,  something  that  explains — explains  Norah's  loss 
of  reason." 

He  took  the  little  memento  ;  the  thin  surface  opened 
readily,  and  folded  inside  he  found  a  scrap  of  paper.  It 
was  in  Darcy  Warchester's  handwriting,  and  the  words 
were : 


CONSEQUENCES.  427 

"  DENNY  :  If  death  should  come  to  me  while  at  the 
war,  I  write  this  to  make  known  to  you  that  Norah  is  my 
wife  in  the  sight  of  Heaven  as  she  shall  be  in  the  sight  of 
the  world  if  I  live.  DARCY." 

Then  Marcus  was  told  of  the  baby,  the  finding  of  which 
had  not  been  known  in  the  city,  as  Aunt  Selina  had  said 
nothing  to  the  physician  or  to  Larry.  It  was  brought  into 
the  room  with  the  dead  mother.  Marcus  looked  at  the 
crooning  little  waif,  blue-eyed  and  pink,  plucking  its  dra 
peries  with  fat  fingers. 

"Yes,  it  is  a  Warchester,"  he  said  bitterly,  "and  it 
begins  its  mission  early." 

"  Its  mission,  Mr.  Dunn  ?  I  don't  understand  you," 
said  Aunt  Selina,  puzzled. 

"  Never  mind,  Mrs.  Marbury  ;  it  was  a  wicked  and 
cynical  thought.  We'll  take  care  that  the  boy  shall  not 
have  the  Warchester  pride." 

Marcus  took  the  bit  of  faded  paper  and  with  it  a  golden 
tress  from  the  maze  of  Norah's  hair,  and  put  them  by  with 
the  mementos  of  his  own  mother.  The  little  boy  was 
given  to  him  until  Darcy  should  return ;  and  it  was  agreed 
that  Denny  should  never  be  told  the  secret  of  the  child's 
birth  unless  Darcy  commanded  it.  Larry  suspected  noth 
ing,  for  he  never  thought  of  the  babe  in  the  bitter  trial  of 
his  sister's  tragic  death. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

CONSEQUENCES. 

NORAH'S  body  was  laid  under  the  cedars  in  Mount 
Holyrood,  at  the  edge  of  a  pretty  copse,  where  the  white 


428  THE  ALIENS. 

star-lilies  grew  thick  under  the  shadow  of  the  great  War- 
chester  obelisk.  The  cortege  was  very  simple,  though 
crowds  stood  respectfully  bare-headed  along  the  streets,  as 
was  the  kindly  custom  in  those  days  when  the  dead  passed 
to  the  grave.  Larry  and  Marcus,  Aunt  Selina  and  Manly, 
sat  in  the  mourning  coach.  With  them  came  the  Blythes 
and  the  Marburys,  Dilly  being  too  much  prostrated  to 
take  part. 

Returning  from  the  cemetery,  Byron  drove  to  the  War- 
chesters.  Although  Madame  Warchester  had  reached  home 
the  day  that  Norah's  body  was  found,  Byron  had  not  gone 
to  her.  His  heart  was  too  full  of  rage  and  grief.  But 
now  he  would  wreak  his  wrath  on  this  heartless  patrician, 
who  had  decoyed  him  into  this  guilty  coil.  He  would  see 
whether  the  hard  heart  held  no  reserves  of  tenderness  ; 
whether  death  could  not  enforce  the  common  sympathy  of 
an  equal  humanity. 

Madame  rustled  into  the  reception-room  before  he  was 
seated,  and  waved  him  condescendingly  to  a  chair,  while 
she,  with  an  affectation  of  preoccupation,  looped  back  the 
heavy  curtains,  keeping  herself  half  facing  him  as  she 
said : 

"So  poor  Norah  is  dead.  I  am  told  she  made  way 
with  herself." 

"  No,  Madame  Warchester,  there's  no  such  comfort  as 
that,  poor  as  it  is,  for  us.  We  murdered  her  !  " 

She  dropped  the  silken  loop  she  had  partly  adjusted, 
and  turned  fully  upon  him  with  cold  questioning  in  her 
gray  eyes. 

"  Do  you  mean,  Mr.  Marbury,  that  the  girl  was  cruelly 
treated  in  your  keeping,  and  threw  herself  into  the  river 
to  escape  you  ?  " 

"  I  mean,  Madame  Warchester,  that  you  drove  her  mad 
by  what  you  said  about  your  son  !  That  a  child — your 


CONSEQUENCES.  429 

son's  child — was  born  to  her,  and  that  the  thought  of  a 
life  of  shame  drove  her  to  desperation !  That's  what  I 
mean !  " 

Byron's  voice  was  low,  but  there  was  a  threatening  in 
tensity  in  it  that  startled  the  mother  as  much  as  the 
revelation  of  Darcy's  criminality. 

"  A  child  !  "  she  whispered,  "  Darcy's  child  !  How  do 
you  know  it  was  Darcy's  ?  " 

She  said  this  vaguely,  tremblingly,  and  low  ;  the  very 
walls  must  not  be  desecrated  by  this  hideous  secret. 

"  How  do  I  know,  Madame  Warchester  ?  Don't  you 
know  ?  Didn't  you  know  it  when  you  lifted  her  from  the 
floor  in  her  home  ?  When  the  boy  was  born  I  remem 
bered  the  look  in  your  face  when  you  dropped  her  on  the 
sofa,  and  told  me  to  carry  her  out.  You  knew  it  then  ! 
If  I  had  known  it,  your  fine  gentleman  of  a  son  should 
have  made  her  his  wife,  if  I  had  to  carry  her  to  Mexico, 
or  he  would  have  had  a  bullet  in  his  worthless  body,  the 
heartless  villain !  " 

Never  in  all  her  life  had  her  ears  been  affronted  by 
such  language.  She  shrank  back,  raising  her  hands 
piteously,  and  Byron's  kind  heart  relented.  He  added, 
in  a  softer  tone,  "  But  he  left  a  paper." 

"  A  paper  ?  "  she  gasped,  "  a  paper  ?  " 

"Yes,  a  paper  owning  that  in  the  sight  of  Heaven 
Norah  was  his  wife.  It  was  found  in  the  baby's  cloth- 
ing." 

"  Owning  that  Norah  was  his  wife  !  In  the  sight  of 
Heaven  ? " 

Yes,  those  were  the  words  he  had  written  her  himself, 
in  that  memorable  letter  that  drove  her  to  action.  What 
did  they  mean,  she  asked  herself,  quite  forgetting  the  stern 
face  scrutinizing  her. 

"And  the  paper  you  have,  Mr.  Marbury?" 


430 


THE  ALIENS. 


"  No,  but  you  need  give  yourself  no  fear.  To  save 
Denny  and  the  family,  the  paper  has  been  buried  where  it 
will  never  be  seen,  unless  your  son  denies  it.  No  one  in 
Norah's  family  knows  of  the  birth  of  the  child.  My 
mother  thought  it  best  to  keep  the  knowledge  from  them, 
at  least  until  your  son's  return.  That's  what  I  came  to 
say  to  you.  The  Boynes  do  not  suspect  Norah's  love  for 
your  son,  and,  unless  you  reveal  it,  no  one  will  ever  tell  it 
to  them." 

Ah  !  she  breathed  again.  There  was  some  decency  in 
this  low  blood  after  all.  Darcy  was  not  to  be  dragged 
through  the  mire;  the  family  was  not  to  be  smirched. 
Her  fervent  gratitude  quite  transformed  her.  She  studied 
the  frank  face  with  softening  lines  about  her  relenting  lips. 
Plainly,  the  gentle  blood  of  Dr.  Marbury  was  re-asserting 
itself  in  this  degenerate  son.  But  Byron  was  in  no  humor 
for  the  diplomatic  expression  of  her  gratitude  that  fol 
lowed.  He  arose  abruptly  and  bade  her  good-by,  saying, 
bluntly  : 

"  I  am  doing  my  mother's  bidding ;  what  we  do  is  for 
the  Boynes,  and  not  to  spare  you  or  yours  !  "  She  did 
not  rise  as  he  quitted  the  room ;  she  bent  her  head  in 
royal  protest  at  such  heresy  as  consideration  for  the  low 
born  Boynes.  The  danger  was  over.  Darcy  really  was 
free — rid  forever  of  this  odious  association.  No  future 
complication  could  bring  the  girl  or  her  family  as  a 
menace  to  the  smooth  existence  of  the  Warchesters.  She 
had  acted  wisely.  Darcy  would  have  been  mad  enough 
to  give  way  to  a  morbid  sentiment,  and  chain  his  life 
down  to  the  level  of  this  low-born  love.  Now  life  would 
again  be  all  serenity.  Darcy  would  forget  the  miserable 
episode,  and,  with  Agnes  at  the  head  of  the  house,  the 
glories  of  the  Warchesters  would  be  perpetuated. 

She  moved  about  the  house  with  such  buoyancy,  such 


CONSEQUENCES.  431 

renewed  youth,  that  the  Colonel  remarked  it,  and  spoke 
jocosely  of  the  benefits  of  travel,  while  Milly,  who  had  just 
returned  from  a  trip  abroad,  claimed  that  it  was  her 
mamma's  relief  at  the  recovery  of  her  daughter  to  take  the 
burdens  of  the  household  from  her  shoulders  ! 

Mamma  beamed  serenely,  and  raised  her  eyes  to  the 
portrait  of  her  son  smiling  from  the  wall,  and  then  she 
was  clamorously  beset  by  the  spoiled  darling  with  soft 
plaints  of  her  partiality  for  the  prodigal. 

Now  the  marriage  she  had  set  her  heart  upon  could 
be  brought  about  at  once.  Darcy  should  be  ordered 
home.  Her  friend,  the  Secretary  of  War,  Governor 
Darcy's  close  ally,  would  see  that  this  was  done.  Why 
hadn't  the  foolish  boy  waited  for  her  in  Washington? 
Where  could  she  reach  him  now  ?  It  would  take  months 
to  send  to  Mexico.  She  gave  orders  to  dispatch  an  ex 
press  at  once. to  Washington,  to  have  her  son  sent  home, 
and,  easy  in  mind,  waited  the  future.  She  could  have 
wished  that  she  had  never  been  forced  into  relations  with 
this  Marbury  person,  for,  though  the  son  of  the  Doctor 
was  certainly  "  well  born,"  he  was  vulgar,  and  of  the  habits 
of  the  common  people. 

Meanwhile,  the  tragedy  had  set  the  city  agog.  Scores 
of  people  recalled  the  lovely  girl  who  had  made  the 
"  Blue  Jay  "  a  magnet  to  the  sober  young  fellows  of  the 
town,  who  had  gone  to  the  simple  tap-room  for  the  pleas 
ure  of  a  glimpse  of  the  demure  maiden  stitching  in  the 
parlor,  and  telling  tales  to  the  open-mouthed  Manly. 
Then  a  sinister  rumor  of  foul  play  took  hideous  shape  and 
circumstantiality.  Domestics  at  Marbury  and  Warchester 
House  compared  notes.  Visions  of  the  frightened  girl  in 
the  lanes  and  fields  were  one  after  another  recalled  and 
compared.  Byron,  maddened  by  neighborhood  gossip, 
told  too  much  or  too  little.  Curious  crowds  hovered 
19 


432 


THE  ALIENS. 


about  Denny's  cottage  until  Marcus,  to  save  Aunt  Selina's 
reason,  closed  the  place,  carried  Larry  to  the  Blue  Jay, 
and  sent  the  old  lady  to  Marbury  until  the  heart-breaking 
curiosity  should  die  out.  But  these  measures  only  added 
to  public  doubt.  Charges  of  the  gravest  nature  took 
shape  and  purpose.  The  rich  Warchesters  were  held 
blamable  for  the  tragedy.  Their  high-stepping  son  had 
made  the  poor  girl  his  victim.  What  more  natural  than 
that  the  family  should  seek  to  be  rid  of  her  without  much 
thought  as  to  the  way  she  was  taken  from  their  sun 
shine  ? 

In  some  intangible  way  Darcy's  apparition  in  the 
Holly  woods  on  the  night  of  the  dead  girl's  agony  became 
vaguely  rumored.  A  gardener  near  the  Holly  Creek  ford 
recalled  shrieks  prolonged  and  terrifying,  which,  as  his 
wife  was  lying-in,  he  had  shut  out  by  closing  the  windows 
of  his  cot. 

The  boat  was  examined  carefully,  and  the  gash  in  its 
bottom  was  pronounced  the  work  of  deliberate  design,  for 
a  blade,  evidently  sharp  and  thin,  had  been  first  plied  be 
tween  two  strips,  had  torn  the  calking,  and  then  left  a 
narrow  slit — enough  to  sink  the  craft  in  a  given  time. 
But  the  conclusive  evidence  of  baleful,  premeditated  mur 
der  was  the  chain  fastened  to  the  wretched  victim's  arm 
above  the  elbow.  The  black  welt  of  it  was  cruelly  plain 
on  the  white  flesh  when  the  grave-clothes  had  been  put 
on  the  body  But  ghastlier,  and  crueler  than  all,  the  little 
babe  had  been  found  locked  in  the  cupboard  under  the 
stern -seat ! 

Yes,  murder  of  the  foulest  sort  had  been  done ;  mur 
der  that  called  for  the  active  pursuit  of  every  man  who 
hoped  to  rear  daughters  in  purity,  or  sons  in  honor ;  mur 
der  that  called  to  the  God  of  the  fatherless,  the  justice  of 
the  upright ! 


CONSEQUENCES.  433 

Marcus  himself,  torn  by  the  conflict  that  racked  his 
heart-strings — the  death  of  the  girl  that  had  come  to  be 
his  joy,  that  had  given  him  months  of  sweet  trouble  ;  that 
had  lighted,  by  the  glance  of  her  innocent  eye,  the  lamps 
of  his  fading  youth ;  that  had  buoyed  him  with  the  aspira 
tions  only  second  to  the  immortal  longing — Marcus,  bend 
ing  under  this  burden,  had  not  at  first  realized  the  obvious 
in  Norah's  plight  when  found.  The  horror  of  the  rumor 
began  to  possess  him !  The  impalpable  form  of  it—  the 
hideous  outlines  that  shone  fitfully  through  the  dissonant 
clamor — he  put  away  from  the  sight  of  his  mind,  so  long 
as  he  could  justify  himself  to  himself  in  the  evasion  of 
what,  day  by  day,  hour  by  hour,  uprose  in  the  menacing 
specter  of  moral  and  legal  retribution. 

In  the  Warchester  house  the  death  of  Norah  had 
passed  away  as  a  topic,  save  in  the  solemn  whispers  of  the 
servants,  who  shuddered  as  the  serene  mother  busied  her 
self  in  the  duties  of  her  sphere.  The  Colonel  had  been 
"aging  to  the  eye,"  in  the  expressive  phrase  of  the  domes 
tics,  for  days  under  the  undivided  burden  of  the  hideous 
atmosphere  of  suspicion  and  reticence  in  which  he  found 
himself  immersed  in  his  business.  People  avoided  him. 
If  a  group  were  engaged  in  vivacious  tattle,  or  the  omi 
nous  monotone  that  implied  sinister  revelation,  his  coming 
was  a  signal  for  instant  silence  or  dispersion.  He  had 
gone,  in  the  infirmity  of  helpless  rage  and  hot  indignation, 
to  his  wife's  nephew,  Marcus  Dunn,  to  learn  his  redress 
for  such  odious  though  passive  disparagement.  But  no 
one  who  saw  the  reserved,  cold  man  that  day  ever  forgot  the 
mute  woe  he  carried  away  from  Marcus's  consulting-room. 
He  masked  his  grief  at  home,  and  Mrs.  Warchester  con 
jectured  that  it  was  the  imminent  loss  of  the  great  Myrick- 
son  suit  that  was  turning  the  dark  locks  white,  and  fur 
rowing  the  white,  aristocratic  forehead. 


434 


THE  ALIENS. 


The  Colonel  had  known  only  in  the  vaguest  sort  of  a 
way  that  his  darling  Darcy,  the  indulged  prince  of  the 
house,  had  become  enamored  of  the  pretty  Norah.  He  had 
given  the  matter  little  thought.  As  I  have  said  before, 
the  " droits  de  seigneur"  existed  in  fact,  if  not  in  form,  in 
this  country  ;  as  well  understood,  if  not  acknowledged,  as 
in  France  or  any  monarchical  society  inheriting  the  evils 
of  feudalism.  He  would  have  seen  nothing  very  odious 
in  Darcy's  amusing  himself  with  a  pretty  girl  if  it  were 
done  with  gentlemanly  reticence.  This  was  a  privilege  he 
was  born  to,  as  young  men  are  born  to  hereditary  law- 
making  in  England,  and  oligarchic  administration  in  other 
countries.  He  had  paid  little  attention  to  the  intrigue 
because  his  wife,  whom  he  adored  and  reverenced,  had 
assumed  the  management  of  the  affair. 

When  clamor  had  reached  a  crisis,  or  rather  brought 
vague  suspicions  to  a  definite  head,  the  Colonel  came 
home  one  day,  deeply  agitated.  He  led  his  wife  into  the 
drawing-room,  closed  the  door,  and  asked  huskily  : 

"  Elizabeth,  much  depends  on  every  word  you  say.  Tell 
me  first,  because — because  you  may  have  to  tell  it  to  less 
trusting  ears — tell  me  what  are  all  the  facts  in  Darcy's  un 
happy  affair  with  this  dead  girl  Norah." 

"  Ah,  my  dear,  has  that  odious  business  come  to  you 
again  ?  I  had  hoped  it  was  ended,  and  that  you  would 
never  be  troubled  by  it.  I  told  you  of  Darcy's  weak  in 
fatuation.  I  didn't  tell  you  the  extent  of  the  danger,  but 
I  took  measures  to  save  him  from  folly  and  the  family  from 
dishonor,  and  I  succeeded." 

"  I  don't  know  as  to  that,  Elizabeth.  The  town  is  agog 
with  scandalous  hintings  and  disgraceful  innuendoes.  I 
have  sent  for  Marcus  to  take  advice.  He  will  be  here 
presently,  and  we  must  take  some  stand,  or  I  fear  we  shall 
be  involved  in  this  hideous  misfortune." 


CONSEQUENCES.  435 

"  Involved !  what  do  you  mean  ?  What  have  we  to  do 
with  the  death  of  a  vulgar  foreigner  ? " 

The  Colonel  started  up  and  paced  the  floor,  glancing 
through  the  window  impatiently.  His  wife  followed  his 
movements  with  restive  incredulity.  What  could  it  mean  ? 
Was  she  never  to  hear  the  last  of  this  hateful  scandal-mon- 
gering? 

Marcus  came  in  presently,  and  sank  heavily  into  the 
seat  the  Colonel  pushed  forward. 

"  Well  ? "  the  latter  ejaculated. 

"  It  is  true  !  I  have  questioned  the  men,  taken  their 
statements  in  fact  before  a  magistrate,  and  a  warrant  has 
been  issued — "  Marcus,  who  had  barely  saluted  his  aunt, 
hesitated,  and  looked  in  troubled  inquiry  at  the  Colonel. 

"  My  dear,  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  let  Marcus 
and  me  talk  this  matter  over  before  we — before — "  He 
hesitated,  and  looked  piteously  at  his  wife's  nephew.  Mrs. 
Warchester  arose  and  swept  to  the  door. 

"  If  your  inquiry  concerns  any  responsibility  or  handi 
work  of  mine,  I  should  prefer  being  present.  If  it  refers 
to  strangers,  I  will  retire  by  preference." 

She  waited,  glancing  haughtily  at  her  nephew,  whose 
gaze  was  fixed  on  the  floor. 

"Aunt  Elizabeth,  I  fear  that  you  must  hear  this  bad 
business,  and  God  grant  that  this  hearing  may  be  the  last 
of  it !  Much  depends  upon  you.  Much  is  at  stake.  Sum 
mon  all  your  self-control,  summon  all  your  fortitude,  for 
an  evil  destiny  is  hanging  over  your  house  !  "  He  faltered 
as  he  saw  the  proud  light  fade  in  the  haughty  eye.  She 
came  back,  and,  seating  herself  by  her  husband,  said  sim 
ply  : 

"  I  hope  that  I  have  so  lived  that  I  can  hear  all  the 
world  says  of  me  and  mine  without  fear  and  without  shame. 
I  beg  that  you  will  not  soften  what  must  be  said  through 


436  THE  ALIENS. 

any  mistaken  consideration  for  my  woman's  weakness." 
She  slipped  her  hand  into  the  Colonel's,  and  confronted 
the  face  of  anguish  before  her. 

"  Aunt,  for  two  days  I  have  been  on  the  verge  of  mad 
ness.  Dreadful  rumors  followed  the  finding  of  the  body 
of  the  poor  girl  Norah  Boyne.  These  were  all  vague  and 
unsubstantial  until  the  town  magistrate  examined  Byron 
Marbury  and  the  fisherman  near  the  Holly  Hills.  Much 
of  the  tale  they  told,  you  already  know.  I  do  not  believe 
that  you  know  that  on  the  night  of  the  girl's  death  Darcy 
was  here — was  with  her." 

"  It  is  impossible  !  It  is  a  calumny  !  If  he  had  been 
here,  his  mother  would  have  known  it.  If—" 

"  Alas  !  he  was  seen  by  the  two  stablemen  ;  he  was 
seen  and  spoken  to  by  the  boy  Hiram.  You  were  not  yet 
arrived  home.  Darcy  went  to  the  Holly  Creek  boat-house. 
He  was  gone  from  about  nine  in  the  evening  until  mid 
night,  returned  to  the  stable  soiled  and  worn  out,  slept 
until  daylight  on  the  couch  in  his  own  chamber,  and  then 
set  out  without  a  groom,  leaving  word  with  the  men  to 
make  no  mention  of  his  presence." 

"  But,  if  he  were  here — if,  for  reasons  of  his  own,  he 
hurried  away  when  he  found  we  were  not  at  home — what 
is  there  wrong  in  that  ?  " 

The  Colonel  with  a  groan  rose,  and,  clasping  his  hands 
over  his  head,  walked  up  and  down  the  room. 

"  O  Aunt  Elizabeth,  that  it  should  be  my  lips  that 
breathe  the  blasting  news  to  you  !  O  Colonel — Colonel 
— I  can  not — I  can  not — you  must  take  this  cruel  burden 
from  me  !  " 

Mrs.  Warchester  arose  and  laid  her  hand  on  her  hus 
band's  arm,  keeping  her  eyes  fastened  on  Mark.  Two  or 
three  times  her  lips  moved  as  if  she  were  uttering  words, 
but  no  one  heard  them ;  they  came  finally : 


CONSEQUENCES.  437 

"  Is  he — is  Darcy  dead ;  has  he  been  murdered  ?  " 

"  Ah  !  God  help  us,  worse  than  that,  worse  than  that !  " 
the  Colonel  cried,  wringing  his  hands. 

"  Worse — worse — worse  than  death  to  a  Warchester — 
dishonor !  " 

She  raised  her  head  in  proud  incredulity.  "  No,  no,  I 
won't  believe  it." 

A  sudden  movement  in  the  portico  diverted  the  over 
wrought  facultie's  of  father  and  nephew  at  the  instant. 
Two  men  with  the  insignia  of  the  local  court  were  parley 
ing  with  a  domestic.  Marcus  arose  and  hurried  out. 
Mrs.  Warchester  watched  the  group  through  the  window, 
chained  to  the  sight  by  a  numbing  horror  that  grew  until 
her  eyes  refused  their  office.  She  sank  into  a  seat. 

"  Husband,  in  God's  name,  what  does  this  mean  ? 
Spare  me,  be  merciful,  tell  me,  anything  is  kinder  than  this 
suspense ! " 

The  Colonel  came  over  and,  kneeling  before  her,  drew 
her  head  upon  his  shoulder.  "  Yes,  it  is  better  to  know. 
Our  son,  our  innocent,  spotless  Darcy,  is  accused  of 
murdering  this  poor  girl,  to  conceal  the  evidence  of  his 
passion  !  " 

For  an  instant  she  sat  quite  dazed  ;  then,  to  the  shocked, 
inexpressible  amazement  of  her  husband,  she  broke  into  a 
frenzied  shriek  of  laughter,  so  harsh,  cruel,  feverish,  that 
he  thought  her  mad.  He  put  his  hand  on  her  mouth  to 
stop  the  unseemly  sound  to  the  ears  of  the  horrified  do 
mestics,  now  crowded  in  the  hallway. 

"  Betty,  for  my  sake,  for  our  son's  sake,  don't,  don't. 
God — she  is  mad  !  " 

This  sobered  her  ;  she  arose  and  stood  before  him  now, 
her  air  contained,  her  voice  in  its  natural  key. 

"  No,  I  am  not  mad.  I  should  have  gone  mad  if  you 
had  tried  me  a  moment  longer,  but  the  relief  was  so  great 


438  THE  ALIENS. 

that  I  couldn't  resist  laughing.     My  Darcy  a  murderer! 
When  they  make  me  believe  that,  I  shall  go  mad  indeed." 

Darcy  could  not  be  found.  Marcus,  associating  Gov 
ernor  Darcy  and  the  greatest  legal  firms  in  the  State, 
undertook  the  defense.  The  law's  delays  covered  weeks, 
and  before  the  trial  was  set  the  basis  of  the  case  was  in 
the  main  the  facts  Marcus  had  laid  before  the  Colonel. 
Darcy's  whereabouts  were  not  traced  until  two  months  after 
the  issue  of  the  warrant.  The  news  reached  him  on  arriv 
ing  at  the  camp  on  the  Rio  Grande.  He  traveled  by  the 
swiftest  conveyance,  night  and  day,  and  delivered  himself 
to  the  authorities  within  the  time  marked  for  the  trial. 

Meanwhile,  all  the  facts  which  have  been  set  down  in 
this  tale  were  sifted  and  embodied  in  the  case  for  the  pros 
ecution.  Byron  Marbury's  testimony  of  itself  seemed 
enough  to  convict,  though  his  hatred  of  the  young  man 
weakened  it  somewhat.  But  the  two  tipsy  grooms  corrob 
orated  and  supplemented  so  directly  the  assumption  of 
Darcy's  rival,  that  the  panic-stricken  friends  of  the  prisoner 
gave  up  hope.  It  was  shown  that  Darcy  had  the  strongest 
motive  for  making  way  with  the  girl  he  had  wronged. 
He  had  been  engaged  after  his  amour  to  a  rich  young  wom 
an  who  was  to  extricate  himself  and  his  family  from 
financial  difficulties.  The  miserable  mother,  put  upon  the 
stand,  was  forced  by  ingenious  cross-examination  to  make 
the  case  even  stronger  by  acknowledging  her  interposition 
in  betraying  the  poor  girl  from  the  home  her  brother  had 
provided. 

The  great  lady,  now  the  mother,  the  solicitous  mother, 
with  swollen  eyes  and  quick-coming  breath,  extorted,  dur 
ing  those  three  hours'  examination,  a  pity  and  admiration 
she  had  never  won  in  her  days  of  domination  and  grand 
eur.  There  was  not  a  dry  eye  in  the  room  as  she  told  the 
tale,  breaking  down  again  and  again,  at  the  enforced  be- 


CONSEQUENCES.  439 

trayal  of  the  sacredness  of  maternal  confidences  with  her 
darling,  pale  and  resolute  in  the  prisoner's  box  before  her. 
She  told  how  he  had  been  decided  and  eager  to  marry  the 
unfortunate  girl ;  how  he  had  come  to  her  to  avow  the 
determination  ;  how  she  expostulated  and  reminded  him  of 
the  covenant  made  long  before  with  another  ;  how  this 
pathetic  outpouring  of  mother  and  son  had  been  over 
heard  by  the  wretched  victim,  and  how  the  blow  had  shak 
en  her  brain.  That  even  in  this  state  her  son  had  still  deter 
mined  to  marry  her,  and  so  wrote  from  the  field  of  battle. 

She  read  his  letters  on  the  subject,  and  there  was  many 
an  admiring  glance  at  the  stout  lover  when  she  came  to 
the  sentence  : 

"  Believe  me,  dear  mother,  there  is  no  honor  that  can 
be  compared  with  a  tranquil  mind.  I  love  Norah,  she  is 
worthy  a  king's  love.  She  is  worthy  a  far  better  man 
than  I  am.  I  mean  to  give  her  the  only  honor  that  I  can 
bestow — the  title  of  wife  !  Reconcile  yourself  to  this,  and 
give  your  soldier  boy  a  welcome  with  his  bride,  when  I 
come  home  presently." 

It  was  the  knowledge  that  he  meant  this — it  was  the 
conviction  that  he  would  make  the  poor  mad  girl  his  wife 
— that  impelled  her  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  girl's  natural 
guardian,  Mr.  Marbury,  and  put  the  demented  girl  under 
his  legal  care.  In  all  the  agony  and  shame  of  this  public 
place  she  preserved  faculties  so  clear  that  the  cross-ques 
tionings  did  not  elicit  the  weak  points  in  this  adroit  plea. 

The  case  for  the  defense  was,  in  brief,  the  mother's  nar 
rative  and  Darcy's  statement.  He  had  arrived  in  War- 
chester  unexpectedly  the  night  of  the  death.  The  boy 
Hiram  had  told  him  of  Norah's  being  at  the  boat-house. 
He  had  no  idea  that  she  was  under  duress  of  any  sort.  He 
supposed  that  it  was  one  of  her  habitual  freaks.  He  had 
hurried  to  the  spot ;  the  rain  had  ceased :  there  was  no 


440  THE  ALIENS. 

sign  of  Norah.  He  had  wandered  through  the  places  she 
used  to  haunt  on  the  Holly  Hills,  but,  finding  no  trace  of 
her,  he  had  gone  to  the  cottage  and  had  seen  through  the 
windows  Aunt  Selina  and  Larry.  They  were  reading 
tranquflly,  and  he  had  no  doubt  that  Norah  had  retired. 

He  had  been  in  great  perplexity  as  to  the  course  he 
ought  to  pursue,  and  went  to  his  own  boat-house,  where  he 
sat  pondering  until  midnight.  He  had  no  idea  when  his 
parents  would  return  ;  he  was  sure  they  would  remain  in 
New  York,  as  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  on  which  his  sister 
was  expected  was  uncertain.  There  were  bitter  disap 
pointments  in  store  for  them,  and,  since  he  had  heard 
nothing  from  Norah,  and  was  ignorant  of  the  birth  of  the 
child,  he  had  determined  to  return  to  the  army,  to  confide 
the  whole  story  to  his  dearest  friend  Denis  Boyne,  by  his 
help  convey  Norah  South  and  marry  her,  where  the  event 
would  be  less  of  a  trial  to  his  parents.  He  had,  unknown 
to  his  mother,  formally  released  his  betrothed,  a  young  lady 
to  whom  he  had  been  pledged  almost  since  childhood,  and 
who,  happily  for  herself,  had  never  given  him  her  heart. 
He  had  taken  horse  and  continued  his  journey  to  his  regi 
ment,  and  the  instant  the  fatal  news  had  reached  him  he 
had  hurried  back. 

The  narrative  convinced  many,  but  the  case  for  the 
prosecution  was  so  strong  in  every  point  that  it  was  to  the 
discrimination  of  the  jury  alone  the  counsel  looked  for 
rescue.  The  prosecution  showed  that  the  girl  had  come 
to  her  death  by  drowning.  That  she  had  been  chained  to 
the  boat.  That  the  bottom  of  the  boat  had  been  slit  by  a 
sharp  instrument  to  insure  its  sinking.  That,  in  spite  of 
this,  the  girl  might  have  escaped  if  the  chain  had  not  held 
her  in  the  water,  when  she  found  the  boat  sinking.  That 
the  only  person  in  the  world  who  had  any  motive  or  inter 
est  in  making  way  with  the  victim  was  the  prisoner. 


SORROWS  CROWN  OF  SORROW. 


441 


The  dreadful  ordeal  lasted  a  week,  and  late  on  Satur 
day  night  the  judge  charged  the  jury.  All  that  night  and 
all  Sunday  the  family  and  friends  sat  in  panic  of  swooning 
agony  in  the  sheriff's  back  parlor,  waiting.  Every  clang 
of  the  iron  doors  sent  the  blood  in  freezing  currents  to 
their  hearts.  All  Sunday  passed.  Monday  morning  the 
jury  filed  in.  Warchester  had  never  had  a  murder  trial 
before,  and  the  whole  town  was  in  the  solemn  chamber,  or 
outside,  waiting  the  verdict. 

When  the  foreman  arose,  even  the  Judge  leaned  for 
ward  in  agitation.  The  answer  to  the  clerk  came  low  and 
painfully : 

"  Guilty ! " 

Every  eye  was  turned  to  the  marble  effigy  of  what  had 
been  the  mother  !  She  swayed  forward,  until  Marcus 
caught  her  as  she  was  about  to  collapse.  But  it  was  only 
for  a  moment.  Presently  she  whispered  hoarsely  to  Gov 
ernor  Darcy.  He  seemed  to  remonstrate  with  her,  and 
then  arose  and  asked  the  judge  to  suspend  sentence. 
The  defense  desired  a  new  trial,  and  the  grounds  were  pre 
sented.  The  prisoner  was  led  away,  but  the  crowds  re 
mained  all  day,  discussing  in  low  tones  the  judgment  that 
had  fallen  on  the  Warchester  pride,  the  leaden-heeled  jus 
tice  that  had  caught  up  with  rank  and  wealth  and  privilege, 
to  avenge  the  humble  and  weak  and  friendless. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

SORROW'S  CROWN  OF  SORROW. 

HUGH  BOYNE  reached  Warchester  while  the  story  of 
his  daughter's  death  was  the  topic  of  the  town.     He  was 


442  THE  ALIENS. 

shown  into  the  room  where  the  dead  girl  lay  by  Aunt  Se- 
lina,  and  started  with  remorse.  It  was  his  own  Kate,  as 
he  had  known  her  twenty-five  years  before,  when  hope 
was  in  her  heart  and  the  love-light  in  her  eye.  He  could 
not  believe  she  was  dead  until  his  lips  touched  the  cold 
forehead.  Only  half  the  tragic  story  was  told  him — Aunt 
Selina  thinking  it  wiser  to  leave  part  of  it  until  Denny 
came.  In  time  he  set  out  to  find  his  other  children, 
Agnes  and  Mabel.  But  his  brother  James  being  dead, 
there  was  no  trace  of  them  among  those  he  had  known 
nineteen  years  before. 

Mabel  had  gone  from  Warchester  years  before,  with 
her  new  parents,  and  was  at  that  very  time  married  and 
settled  in  a  great  milling  city  in  the  West.  The  Vanes 
alone  could  have  identified  Agnes's  parentage,  but  they 
would  have  shrunk  from  it  if  they  had  been  called  upon, 
which,  as  Hugh  had  no  clew,  was  not  likely  to  happen.  Of 
James  Boyne's  wife  he  could  get  no  trace.  She  had  gone 
to  Michigan  on  the  death  of  her  husband,  and  as  none  of 
her  relatives  lived  in  Warchester  it  was  impossible  to  track 
her.  The  Marbury  farm,  where  his  children  had  been 
reared,  where  he  heard  that  Denny  and  Norah  had  passed 
years  of  happiness,  Hugh  bought  from  Byron,  who  longed 
to  go  back  to  the  joys  of  the  town.  Aunt  Selina  was  to  be 
the  mistress  so  long  as  she  lived,  or,  if  she  preferred,  make 
her  home  with  Boyne  and  his  two  boys. 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,  Mr.  Boyne.  I  think  when 
Denny  comes  back  you  will  find  he  will  have  another  mis 
tress  to  share  his  home !  " 

Hugh  looked  at  her  inquiringly. 

"  Oh,  Denny  has  been  in  love  all  his  life  with  a  pretty 
maid  in  Marbury,  and,  now  that  he  has  a  rich  father,  I 
think  he  will  find  no  refusal  in  the  family." 

Denny  all  this  time  was  in  Mexico,  unconscious  of 


SORROWS  CROWN  OF  SORROW. 


443 


the  wreck  of  nearly  all  he  loved  most  in  the  world.  Mar 
cus  had  dispatched  messengers  in  vain.  The  column  to 
which  he  was  attached  had  penetrated  far  into  the  interior, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  influence  of  Governor  Darcy  had 
prevailed  upon  his  friend  the  Secretary  of  War  that  a  fur 
lough  was  sent  and  orders  to  expedite  the  young  man's 
journey  northward  obtained. 

In  spite  of  every  effort,  the  whereabouts  of  the  boy 
Hiram  Gaskell  could  not  be  found.  Marcus  felt  that  upon 
this  link  depended  Darcy's  life.  Every  resource  was  em 
ployed  to  discover  him.  Rewards  that  would  have  made 
the  boy  rich  were  posted  in  every  post-office,  and  the 
primitive  machinery  of  the  police  system  called  into  requi 
sition.  The  argument  for  the  new  trial  was  heard,  and 
the  decision  anxiously  expected.  Marcus  was  sure  of  the 
result ;  but  unless  Hiram  were  found  he  felt  apprehensive 
of  the  verdict  in  the  second  trial. 

Madame  Warchester,  in  the  interval,  had  insisted  on 
sharing  every  effort  of  counsel.  She  had  taken  part  in  all 
the  consultations  ;  had  examined  every  step  of  the  route 
the  dead  girl  had  passed  on  the  last  fatal  journey  from 
Marbury  to  the  Holly  Hills.  She  had  cross-examined 
Amelia,  and  extorted  every  detail  of  the  girl's  life  in  the 
old  home  after  her  return,  and,  though  Amelia  cunningly 
concealed  the  artifice  by  which  Norah's  brain  had  been 
finally  and  irretrievably  shaken,  the  mother,  savagely  alert 
for  the  safety  of  her  son,  detected  the  discrepancy,  and 
charged  it  upon  the  shrew.  Amelia  broke  into  tears  of 
cowardly  terror.  She  confessed  all,  under  pledge  of 
keeping  it  from  Byron,  whose  wrath  she  had  come  to  fear 
in  the  morose  aspect  he  had  assumed  since  Norah's  flight. 
The  dog-chain,  too  ;  she  had  given  that  to  Hiram  one  night 
when  she  found  Norah  tampering  with  the  locks. 

Then  the  patient  mother  pushed  her  scrutiny  to  the 


444 


THE  ALIENS. 


Holly  boat-house  ;  the  boat  itself  was  investigated.  The 
shallow  waters  were  dragged,  and  the  hatchet  found  under 
the  submerged  end  of  the  boat,  where  Norah's  dead  body 
had  been  discovered  imbedded  in  the  green  water-weeds. 
The  lawyers  listened  in  anguish  as  the  mother,  turned  ad 
vocate,  reconstructed  the  story.  They  could  give  her  little 
hope.  All  this  had  been  substantially  set  forth  before. 
Even  if  the  new  trial  were  granted,  they  could  not  encour 
age  her  in  the  outcome. 

The  dreaded  and  hoped-for  day  came.  A  new  trial 
was  granted  on  technical  grounds,  and,  for  the  first  time 
since  the  deadly  strain  had  been  put  upon  her,  the  de 
voted  mother  broke  down.  She  was  carried  from  the 
lawyer's  office  prattling  the  idle  fancies  of  a  madwoman. 
But  she  revived,  and  was  all  herself  again,  when  the  task 
still  confronting  her  came  back  to  her  tortured  mind. 
She  spent  long  delightful  hours  with  the  son,  whose  eye 
looked  the  innocence  she  had  never  for  an  instant 
doubted.  She  caressed  the  handsome  lad,  and  filled  him 
with  something  of  her  own  amazing  confidence  when  she 
said  : 

"  Darcy,  it  was  your  wicked  mother  who  brought  this 
upon  you.  It  is  your  repentant  mother  who  shall  snatch 
you  from  this  hideous  peril.  I  have  a  resource  that  shall 
save  you.  Others  may  have  loved  you  :  your  mother  not 
only  loves  you,  she  lived  for  you — lives  for  you — for,  if 
you  were  dead,  I  should  not  live !  The  blood  of  Alice 
Lisle  is  in  my  veins ;  she  died  for  those  she  loved ! 
Do  you  think,  Darcy,  that  I  would  do  less  for  my 
boy?" 

"  Mother,  you  must  not  think  of  the  future  in  this  sol 
emn,  tragic  way.  Innocent  men  have  died  before  now.  I 
have  done  wrong,  but  I  have  not  committed  this  crime. 
If  justice  demands  my  punishment,  it  is  no  stain  on  you 


SORROW'S  CROWN  OF  SORROW.  445 

— but — but — "  He  broke  down  ;  the  hardest  part  of  the 
punishment  had  already  been  his.  He  had  been  fouled 
by  suspicion,  desecrated  by  prison.  He  could  never  hold 
his  head  up  again  among  men.  The  forces  of  the  mother's 
perverted  and  fantastic  pride  had  spent  themselves  now. 
It  was  she  who  had  been  content  to  rescue  her  darling  at 
any  cost,  while  he,  though  not  indifferent,  shuddered  at 
the  future,  blackened  by  the  near  shadow  of  an  awful 
vengeance. 

Worse  news  still  than  the  lack  of  the  boy  Hiram  pre 
luded  the  second  trial.  Intelligence  had  come  from  Wash 
ington  that  the  detachment  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Denis  Boyne  had  been  ambuscaded  and  massacred  in  the 
wilds  of  New  Castile,  before  the  order  for  his  return  had 
reached  headquarters.  The  grievous  news  was  kept  from 
Darcy,  but  it  told  on  the  mother.  Those  who  had  known 
her  in  happier  days  were  shocked  as  she  entered  the  court 
room  when  the  case  was  called  the  second  time.  The 
dark  eyes  were  sunken  and  dim,  the  wavy  black  hair 
thickly  snowed  with  white,  the  clear  complexion  faded, 
and  the  cheeks  wrinkled  beyond  the  lines  of  age. 

Strong  as  was  the  new  testimony  for  the  defense,  the 
prosecution  met  it  step  by  step.  Byron,  to  save  himself, 
was  forced  to  give  stronger  emphasis  to  his  story.  The 
mother's  discovery  of  Norah's  situation  the  day  she  was 
abducted  from  the  cottage  was  brought  out  in  appalling 
relief.  This  point  alone  seemed  to  decide  the  case.  Even 
the  absence  of  the  lad  Hiram  was  made  to  tell  against  the 
unhappy  prisoner,  and,  when  the  judge  summed  up,  it  was 
remarked  that  his  leanings,  which,  on  the  previous  trial, 
had  seemed  in  favor  of  the  prisoner,  now  took  an  intent 
against  him. 

The  jury  was  out  three  days.  Warchester  was  a  place 
of  mourning  and  suspense,  for  Darcy's  conduct  during  the 


446  THE  ALIENS. 

ordeal,  and  the  memory  of  his  boyish  goodness  and  gen 
erosity,  when  he  was  the  petted  prince  of  a  great  race, 
came  back  to  the  people,  and  there  were  fervent  prayers 
on  many  a  lip  as  well  as  the  mother's  that  the  generous 
boy  might  be  proved  guiltless.  It  was  midnight  when  the 
foreman  of  the  jury  sent  word  by  the  sheriff.  There  was 
little  doubt  in  the  judge's  mind  of  the  verdict,  and,  to  spare 
the  mother,  he  took  the  bench  at  that  hour. 

Scanning  the  faces  of  the  twelve,  Marcus  knew  what 
the  answer  was  to  be.  He  caught  his  aunt's  two  hands  in 
his  own,  and  whispered  : 

"  Dear  Aunt  Betty,  don't  stay  here.  Let  me  bring  the 
result  to  you  in  the  sheriff's  room." 

She  sought  his  averted  eyes,  which  were  swimming  in 
tears,  and  became  rigid. 

"  They  are  going  to  murder  him  !  "  Her  voice  was 
thick  and  tremulous,  but  her  hands  were  firm  in  the  hold 
she  had  on  her  nephew. 

"  Ah,  Aunt—" 

There  was  a  sound  of  mumbling.  The  clerk  was  dron 
ing  the  hateful  formula.  All  senses  were  suspended  until, 
through  the  whir  and  sounds  of  doom,  came  the  blood 
curdling  word  : 

"  Guilty !  " 

Uarcy  raised  his  head  with  a  gesture  of  the  mother's 
old  pride.  He  sought  her  eye.  It  was  glazed  and  hard. 
She  pushed  Marcus's  restraining  arms  from  her,  arose,  and 
tottered  to  the  rail  by  her  son's  side.  The  under-sheriff 
looked  in  perplexity  to  the  judge,  as  he  gently  strove  to 
disengage  the  arms  she  had  thrown  around  her  son.  He 
desisted  when  he  caught  a  kindly  beam  in  the  magistrate's 
eye.  There  were  only  counsel  and  the  prisoner's  family 
in  court,  Hugh  Boyne,  Larry,  and  the  Blythes. 

With  Darcy's  head  pillowed  on  her  bosom,  the  mother 


SORROWS  CROWN  OF  SORROW. 


447 


raised  her  haggard  face  to  the  judge,  and  said  in  tones  of 
blood-curdling  calmness : 

"  A  mother's  pride,  born  in  her  blood,  has  brought  this 
sinless  boy  to  the  edge  of  the  gallows,  but  a  mother's  cow 
ardice  shall  not  permit  his  sacrifice.  I  call  all  here  to  wit 
ness  that  I  am  in  my  right  mind."  She  looked  steadily 
in  the  face  of  the  judge,  surveyed  the  startled  countenances 
of  the  group  below,  and  stroked  the  tawny  locks  pressed 
to  her  bosom ;  then,  fastening  her  eye  once  more  on  the 
magistrate,  she  continued : 

"  I  have  often  read  of  a  chain  of  evidence  so  strong 
that  the  innocent  could  not  escape.  I  little  dreamed  that 
my  own  darling  would  be  such  a  victim.  Have  patience," 
she  cried  appealingly,  as  the  judge  moved  uneasily  in  his 
seat,  "  I  shall  not  keep  you  long,  and  what  I  have  to  say 
will  convince  you  that  I  have  a  right  to  speak."  She 
stopped,  raised  her  head,  and,  with  a  shade  of  the  old 
regal  way,  said : 

"  Darcy  Warchester  is  guiltless  of  the  girl's  murder. 
It  was  I,  Arabella  Elizabeth  Warchester,  who  made  way 
with  Norah  Boyne  !  " 

"  O  mother,  mother  !  "  Darcy  clasped  his  hands  over 
the  self-accusing  lips,  and  strove  to  smother  further  utter 
ance.  But  the  proud  head  refused  the  shelter  of  his  pro 
tecting  arms.  Meeting  the  startled  gaze  of  pitying  in 
credulity  on  the  judge's  face,  she  raised  her  voice  in  sol 
emn  asseveration : 

"  It  was  I  that  did  the  murder,  and  I  have  the  proof ! 
When  the  court  needs  it,  it  is  ready.  Come,  my  son,  we 
must  exchange  places.  My  wicked  pride  has  cursed  you 
long  enough." 

But  the  strain  was  too  much  now  ;  she  would  have 
fallen  had  not  Darcy  supported  her,  and  she  lay  limply 
across  the  rail,  when  Marcus  came  to  carry  her  out.  Sen- 


448  THE  ALIENS. 

tence  was  again  suspended,  the  judge  agreeing  with  coun 
sel  to  investigate  the  extraordinary  admission. 

Counsel  was  assigned  the  new  prisoner  by  the  court, 
to  act  in  conjunction  with  Darcy's,  and  further  proceed 
ings  postponed  until  the  sanity  of  the  self-accused  could 
be  tested  by  experts.  This  ordeal  passed  safely ;  the 
mother  was  equal  to  the  further  torture  of  cross-question 
ing,  and  captious  doubt  raised  at  every  step  of  her  narra 
tion.  It  was  she  who  had  placed  Norah  at  Marbury.  It 
was  she  who  had,  by  holding  out  a  delusive  hope  of  a 
meeting  with  Darcy,  lured  her  to  the  Holly  Creek  tryst. 
It  was  her  hand  that  had  cut  the  slit  in  the  boat.  It  was 
she  who  had  manacled  the  girl's  arm.  It  was  she  who  had 
fastened  the  baby  in  the  box  under  the  seat.  It  was  she 
who  had  paid  the  boy  to  watch  the  fugitive,  and  force  her 
if  necessary  to  the  boat-house.  She  had  pretended  to  be 
in  New  York,  but  had  in  reality  left  Washington  on  the 
heels  of  her  son,  who  was  coming  to  Warchester  to  fulfill 
his  pledge  to  the  betrayed  girl. 

Not  a  link  was  lost,  not  a  flaw  anywhere  in  the  mon 
strous  story,  save  the  lack  of  corroboration  by  the  lad 
Hiram.  Amelia  was  examined,  and  she  confirmed  the  in 
tent  of  the  narrative  by  simply  omitting  her  own  share  in 
the  driving  Norah  away  when  the  trail  came  near  her  own 
handiwork.  She  told  no  lie,  but  terror  of  Byron  kept  her 
from  the  few  words  of  truth  that  would  have  broken  the 
mother's  astutely  forged  chain  of  self-crimination. 

Darcy  was  held  in  suspense,  while  the  new  trial,  with 
the  mother  in  place  of  the  son,  was  ordered  for  November. 
In  spite  of  the  circumstantiality  of  the  mother's  narrative, 
there  wasn't  a  soul  in  Warchester  that  credited  the  self- 
accusation.  To  her  husband's  prayers  she  made  no  an 
swer.  To  Darcy's  remorseful  supplication  she  replied  only 
by  caresses.  When,  however,  Marcus  Dunn  made  clear  to 


SORROWS  CROWN  OF  SORROW. 


449 


her  that  Darcy  could  never  again  be  brought  into  peril  for 
a  crime  of  which  he  had  been  already  virtually  acquitted, 
she  broke  down  and  confessed  that  she  was  innocent. 
That  she  had  immolated  herself  for  Darcy,  and  she 
counted  the  sacrifice  light  that  saved  his  innocent  blood 
from  the  contamination  of  the  halter. 

But,  though  conscious  of  the  mother's  guiltlessness,  her 
counsel  were  gravely  doubtful  whether  the  subtle  coil  she 
had  woven  about  herself  could  be  cut  or  unraveled. 

Lady  Molly,  who  returned  from  the  East  at  this  junct 
ure,  furnished  the  first  link  in  the  chain  of  extrication. 
She  had  been  in  the  neighboring  village  of  Athens  the 
very  night  Mrs.  Warchester  asserted  she  had  set  Norah 
adrift  in  the  boat.  They  were  in  the  same  inn,  and  she 
saw  Mrs.  Warchester,  who  had  remained  behind  in  the 
tavern  parlor  while  the  Colonel  had  gone  on  by  the  coach. 
This  was  as  late  as  ten  o'clock.  With  this  to  work  on,  Mar 
cus  Dunn  began  the  case  hopefully. 

Darcy  had  put  no  trust  in  the  story  of  Denny's  slaugh 
ter,  and,  the  instant  he  was  free,  hurried  down  to  verify  the 
story  or  bring  his  friend  home.  If  Denis  and  the  boy 
Hiram  could  be  brought  on  the  scene,  the  mother's  sacri 
fice  would  end  with  the  rescue  of  Darcy  from  even  sus 
picion. 

It  was  Larry  who  found  Hiram,  skulking,  frightened, 
and  woe-begone,  at  the  port  a  few  miles  from  the  city.  He 
had  fled  to  Canada  to  avoid  Byron's  wrath,  but,  finding 
no  employment,  shuddering  at  every  voice  he  heard,  the 
half-crazed  lad  had  wandered  back  to  endure  his  punish 
ment  and  enjoy  the  plenty  and  ease  of  the  Marbury  farm. 
His  narrative  at  last  cleared  the  mystery,  though  he  had 
to  run  the  risk  of  trial  for  his  handiwork.  Hiram's  testi 
mony  acquitted  Darcy  of  even  the  shade  of  complicity. 
The  boy  told  how  he  had  heard  Amelia  inform  Norah  that 


450  THE  ALIENS. 

she  was  to  be  sent  to  the  "work-house,"  he  called  it ;  how 
the  girl  had  suddenly  grown  wild ;  how,  coming  across  the 
fields  from  the  errand  upon  which  he  had  been  sent,  he 
had  seen  Norah's  striped  shawl  against  the  alder-bushes ; 
how  he  had  followed  and  chained  her  to  the  boat  until  he 
could  get  help ;  how  he  had  met  Darcy  and  gone  back  to 
the  creek  with  him;  how  they  found  the  boat  gone,  and 
Darcy  had  wandered  through  the  woods  like  a  wild  man, 
calling  on  Norah  ;  how,  tired  out,  he  had  fallen  asleep 
near  Norah's  cottage,  and  saw  Larry  bring  the  body  in  the 
morning.  Then  he  had  fled  in  deadly  terror. 

Mrs.  Warchester,  who  had  been  permitted  to  occupy 
her  own  home,  under  guard  and  heavy  bail,  was  never 
formally  accused,  and  her  reputation  was  cleared,  in  the 
sight  of  all  men,  of  the  crime  she  had  charged  upon  her 
self  to  save  her  son. 

News  came  from  Mexico  that  Darcy  had  been  able,  by 
sending  timely  succor,  to  rescue  Denny  from  his  captors, 
who  were  holding  him  for  ransom,  and  a  few  days  later 
Marcus  had  a  letter  in  Denny's  own  hand,  announcing  the 
march  home,  and  his  own  arrival  with  his  troop  in  War 
chester  early  in  the  month.  He  inclosed  a  letter  for 
Darcy,  whom  he  supposed  to  be  at  home.  Letters  in  his 
hand  came  also  for  Norah,  of  whose  fate  he  was  ignorant, 
and  the  wretched  Larry  carried  them  faithfully  to  his 
only  friend,  Marcus. 

It  was  on  just  such  a  tranquil  day  as  we  saw  in  War 
chester  when  this  tale  began,  that  the  city's  civic  digni 
taries  were  assembled  at  the  new  railway  station  to  wel 
come  Captain  Denis  Boyne  and  the  survivors  of  the 
famous  Marbury  company  from  the  southern  wars.  The 
veterans  formed  in  line  in  the  station,  with  Denny  in  all 
his  official  bravery  of  plumes  and  epaulettes,  a  shining 


SORROW'S  CROWN  OF  SORROW.  451 

saber  in  his  hand.  The  whole  town  was  in  the  streets. 
Colonel  Warchester,  with  Governor  Darcy,  an  "  ex  "  be 
fore  his  title  now,  headed  the  citizens,  and  made  an  ad 
dress  as  the  little  band  drew  up  at  the  Rialto  bridge, 
where  years  before  Denny  had  first  put  his  foot  on  the 
soil,  toddling  at  his  mother's  heels.  Hugh  was  there,  too, 
and  Larry,  and  Aunt  Selina,  and  in  a  carriage  sat  Mis 
tress  Dilly,  very  proud  and  happy,  you  may  be  sure,  in 
the  glory  of  her  soldier  boy. 

In  the  evening  a  great  banquet  was  spread  in  the 
Robin  Tavern,  Governor  Darcy  presiding,  with  Denny  at 
his  right  hand  and  Colonel  Warchester  at  his  left.  Flow 
ing  bumpers  were  drunk  to  the  heroes,  and  eulogiums  that 
made  Denny  blush  were  pronounced  by  the  mayor  and 
other  local  dignitaries.  There  were  swelling  periods,  be 
sure,  in  recounting  the  heroism  of  the  gallant  captain,  who 
had  illustrated  the  bravery  of  Erin  and  the  patriotism  of 
America  on  the  burning  wastes  of  Mexico.  Denny  was 
called  upon  to  respond.  He  arose,  trembling  and 
abashed,  and  was  understood  to  say  that  he  accepted 
the  kind  sentiments  uttered  as  the  representative  only  of 
the  hero  who  was  not  present.  That  it  was  to  Major 
Darcy  Warchester,  the  model  of  a  soldier,  man,  and 
friend,  that  this  tribute  was  due,  and,  with  other  tender 
and  modest  words,  he  made  Darcy  the  theme  of  the 
feast. 

Captivated  by  this  modest  abnegation,  and  reminded 
of  the  fact  that  Denny  was  now  the  son  of  such  wealth  as 
none  of  the  potentates  of  the  city  could  equal,  the  alien 
was  clamorously  saluted  as  a  citizen  of  the  town,  who  had 
won  the  toga  of  the  patrician  caste  by  his  integrity, 
gallantry,  and  modest  self-denial. 

There  was  presently  a  sober  wedding  in  Deacon 
Dane's  solemn  best  room,  that  gave  Marbury  gossips 


452  THE  ALIENS. 

subject  for  many  an  evening's  chat.  Denny's  claims  to 
Dilly  were  not  disputed  by  the  deacon  when  he  came  in 
the  guise  of  a  rich  suitor,  and  the  hero  of  Warchester's 
"  best "  circles.  Denny  mourned  with  more  tranquil 
resignation  Norah's  death,  when  he  learned  the  cruel 
wrong  that  his  best  friend  had  put  upon  her.  There  was 
hot  rage  in  his  heart  when  he  recalled  the  past :  Norah's 
constancy  and  spotlessness,  and  Darcy's  dastard  weak 
ness — for  Denny  knew  it  was  not  libertine  guilt.  In  his 
knapsack  he  had  long  carried  a  letter  intrusted  to  him 
when  the  company  was  entering  battle,  and,  surmising 
that  this  related  to  Norah,  he  opened  it,  though  on  it  was 
written,  in  Darcy's  hand, 

"  To  be  opened  only  when  I  am  dead." 

"  He  is  dead  to  me,"  Denny  said,  bitterly,  as  he  sat 
with  Dilly  in  the  deacon's  sacred  parlor,  where  he  was 
now  welcomed  with  urbane  cordiality.  They  read  the 
letter  together.  It  was  a  long  narration  of  Darcy's  inter 
course  with  Norah,  from  the  first  meeting  at  Marbury  to 
his  parting  in  the  Holly  thickets.  The  miserable  lad  set 
forth  his  struggles,  his  resolutions,  his  heartbreaking  pro 
crastination  and  cowardice,  and  wound  up  by  declaring 
that  so  soon  as  he  could  reach  her,  Norah  should  be  his 
wife  in  the  sight  of  man  as  she  was  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Denny's  eyes  were  dim,  and  he  sat  silent  until  the 
darkness  fell,  and  then  sallied  out  to  take  counsel  of  his 
woodland  cronies.  He  revisited  the  shimmering  glades 
bathed  in  the  autumn  moonlight,  where  he  had  found  his 
friends  and  confidants  as  a  boy.  He  knelt  beside  the 
running  water,  haunted  by  the  memories  of  Norah — the 
memories  of  Darcy's  first  coming,  when  he  stood  to  the 
two  countryside  children  for  the  real  Prince  Charming  of 
their  tales  and  dreams.  His  heart  softened;  an  impulse 
of  the  old  superstition  came  back,  and  he  gazed  believ- 


SORROW'S  CROWN  OF  SORROW.  453 

ingly  into  the  misty  waters.  He  saw,  or  seemed  to  see, 
the  living  smile  of  the  dead  Norah,  and  in  his  ears  the 
night-birds  sang,  Forgive  for  Norah  —  forgive  for  the 
dead  ! 

Darcy  never  came  back  to  Warchester.  A  year  after 
Denny's  coming,  on  his  marriage-day,  a  letter  was  put  in 
his  hands  from  the  wanderer.  He  had  bought  a  property 
in  the  sunny  lands  where  Denny  had  saved  his  life.  He 
should  live  on  the  memories  of  his  happier  years,  and  ex 
piate,  as  his  conscience  admonished  him,  the  woes  he  had 
brought  upon  all  he  loved.  He  begged  Denny  to  think 
tenderly  of  him  sometimes — if  he  could,  charitably  ;  if  he 
couldn't,  kindly  ;  and  commended  his  boy — Norah's  boy — 
to  the  kind  hearts  that  he  knew  cherished  it.  And 
often,  thereafter,  Denny  was  depressed  with  the  sadness 
of  the  days  that  had  been  darkest — a  glimpse  of  that  crown 
of  sorrow,  which  is  the  remembering  happier  things  ! 


THE    END. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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